Meet the judges of the
IBC Awards 2026

Pragya Agarwal is a British-Indian academic, writer and speaker, and the founder of research think-tank The 50 Percent Project, investigating global gender inequalities. She is the author of four widely acclaimed non-fiction books: Sway, Hysterical, (M)otherhood, and Wish I Knew What to Say, and the picture book Standing Up to Racism. Agarwal was born in India and now lives between the UK and Ireland. She has three children.

Scott Evans is a neurodivergent primary school teacher, author of All Brains Are Wonderful, and 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Reading for Pleasure, and a children’s books consultant and content creator. He reads, reviews and recommends children’s books on his website TheReaderTeacher, and hosts #PrimarySchoolBookClub.

Scott regularly contributes to and writes for the BBC, offering insights into raising children as readers, and was the educational consultant for the 2024 World Book Day Live Lesson. He has partnered with BookTrust, Waterstones, Hay Festival and Literature Wales, as well as with many leading and independent children’s books publishers to create resources. He has also been a judge for the Blue Peter Book Awards, The Week Junior Book Awards, the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (The Lollies), the Read for Empathy Collection, the Wales Book of the Year Award and was on the steering group for the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–26.

Mei Matsuoka was born in Tokyo and moved to the UK in her childhood. She graduated from Kingston University, Surrey, with a BA Hons in Illustration and Animation, and was longlisted for the BookTrust Best New Illustrator Award.

She won the ANA Aozora Environmental Picture Book Prize and was nominated for the 2009 Kate Greenaway Medal. She is the author-illustrator of Footprints in the Snow, and the illustrator of three collaborations with the author Peter Bently, including The Great Dog Bottom Swap. She has lived and worked in the UK, Japan and Germany over the past 20 years.

Phyllis Ramage has a bachelor’s degree in Information Studies and has been a librarian for 30 years. She has worked in the public and education sector, mostly in London. Her enjoyment of literature led her to study for a master’s degree in Children’s Literature and English Literature. For 11 years, she taught the Children’s Literature module at the Open University until 2021, when she left to start a PhD in Children’s Literature at Newcastle University.

Nina Tame is a disability content creator, writer and mentor from the UK. She uses her social media accounts to debunk outdated societal myths about disability and highlight the ways ableism runs throughout her life. Her experience of growing up disabled and parenting a disabled child is a continual influence that runs through her work. With wit, passion and lots of wheelchair selfies, Nina’s work explores the nuances of the disabled experience while contributing to the growing, diverse and brilliant online disabled community.