Which J.K. Rowling book won the 1997 Smarties Book Prize in the 9-to-11-year-old category?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone won the 1997 Smarties Book Prize in the 9-to-11-year-old category.

The award was one of the earliest major signs that Rowling’s debut novel had connected strongly with young readers. The Nestlé Smarties Book Prize was a British children’s book award in which children’s reading preferences played an important role. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book received the prize in the category for readers aged nine to eleven.

The novel had been published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury in June 1997. It introduces Harry, Hogwarts, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the central mystery surrounding the return of Lord Voldemort. The book also won other early awards, helping establish the series before its international expansion.

The title differs between Britain and the United States, where the same book was published as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. That is a title variation, not a separate novel, and it can cause confusion when award records are compared internationally.