So here it is: a new children's book prize that aims to draw attention to the best Bulgarian authors and illustrators!
The Golden Hazelnut will go to the two best new books for children aged 4 to 10. One will be the readers' choice, the other the jury's. And even though one of the main conditions is that no artificial intelligence was used to create the winning book…, I have the honor of being on the jury too.
The big winner will receive a prize of €1,000, and nominations are welcome from everyone—readers, authors, illustrators and publishers alike—until November 15, 2026.
Count Your Hazelnuts in the Fall
In case you haven't met Peggy and Mozzie: they are two squirrels, the heroes of a four-book series of the same name that teaches children financial literacy. They were drawn by Yana Kazakova, and their creator is Mladen Zapryanov—a corporate transformation consultant but also, as he introduces himself, “a dreamer and an advocate for education and personal growth.” He is the organizer of the Golden Hazelnut awards, and he was kind enough to invite me onto the jury.
Why is a prize like this necessary, and why does it matter? “We're doing it because Bulgarian authors and illustrators have a very hard time finding a publisher,” says Mladen. “And even if they do, there's no way they can make a living from it. What's more, I see how hard it is for worthwhile children's books to reach their readers. That's exactly what this competition, aimed at Bulgarian authors and illustrators, is for.”
Bulgaria does have children's book prizes—Mladen mentions the competition in the town of Sliven and Val Stoeva's Biserche Valshebno (Little Magic Pearl), where the children themselves vote. “But any book can take part there—a new edition of Andersen or a new translation of a popular Western author. We've focused on just one very small segment of books: those created by a Bulgarian author and a Bulgarian illustrator.”
By Mladen's count, only about 60 new books can even qualify under these requirements. Even more impressive: in just one week, more than 20 have already entered!
Who Will Gather the Hazelnuts
Broadly speaking, there are four conditions for entry. The book must be by a Bulgarian author and a Bulgarian illustrator, published for the first time in 2025 or 2026, for children aged 4–10. Why that age in particular? “I believe it may be the most important one,” says Mladen.
The fourth condition is not to be underestimated either. In the rules it is Article 5, Item 3, and it reads, word for word: “Generative artificial intelligence must not have been used in creating the book—for writing the text, or for creating or substantially editing the illustrations.” If it turns out otherwise, the book can be disqualified—even after the prize has been announced.
Anyone can nominate; all it takes is a quick registration on the Peggy and Mozzie website, and you can suggest more than one book. The shortlist will be announced on March 1, 2027, followed by a readers' vote on the site, and the award ceremony will take place on April 2, 2027.
The Nutcrackers
There will be two Golden Hazelnuts—one from the jury and one from the readers' vote—and a single book can take both. I've already hurried to boast that I'm part of the eight-member jury, which is decidedly representative.
Besides the organizer himself, Mladen Zapryanov, the jury includes Krasimira Hadzhiivanova, founder of Mayko Mila and of the social enterprise Ole Male, who has also been a guest on Digital Stories; the actress and journalist Angelina Grozeva; Valentina Angelova, screenwriter of the TV crime drama Undercover; Kalina Aleksandrova, a senior teacher at the Elisaveta Bagryana 51st Secondary School in Sofia; Sofia Peycheva, director of the regional library in the town of Kyustendil; and the illustrator Yana Kazakova. Books by the organizer and the jury members are, of course, ineligible—including the Peggy and Mozzie books. “Yana in particular made a huge sacrifice, because she's quite a serious illustrator right now,” Mladen stresses. “Her books won't be competing, but that's life.”
Squirrels Don't Use ChatGPT
Hedgehogs are born without AI, I wrote at the start of my series on children and technology.
But… why leave the Golden Hazelnut without generated work too? “AI has never done anything to me; I use it a lot,” Mladen smiles. “But I believe it's more for other kinds of tasks.”
He allows that someday there might even be a competition for AI-made children's books (you didn't hear it from us!). “But mixing humans and artificial intelligence isn't a good idea. Because whom would I be rewarding? The author? The engineer who built it? Or the AI itself?” Mladen wonders—and personally, I think each of them would deserve the prize.
“Humanism matters to me. I'd rather a person put in the effort, put in love, than have a machine produce it based on its knowledge of tens of thousands of books it has never read, but knows.”
There's also a practical reason: the illustrators. “Our illustrators really don't like this thing. And I understand them. It's hard to say someone did it entirely on their own if they reworked something.”
A Wolf in Squirrel's Clothing
You know me: I'm the person who has placed generated poems in leading poetry competitions (or at least the one who admitted to it). Digital Stories, together with kindred spirits, was behind Apollo ex machina, the first Bulgarian competition for AI-generated poetry (so far I haven't come across another one anywhere in the world).
And here I am now, on the jury for children's books in which artificial intelligence is banned by an explicit clause in the rules. Yes, I believe this is yet another chance to think the subject over again. And to start focusing not so much on the use of AI itself as on the way we use it. Yes, if we go about it by the template, if we pick the same simple prompts and free models, if we're sloppy in our work, all the covers will look the same.
Yes, it's ugly when all the plots are banal. Yes, it's banal when all the covers are ugly.
But how will we tell? In times when, at least as far as text is concerned, we can no longer have—and never again will have—any guarantee that AI isn't part of the picture? I promise nothing on that front… except honesty, and gratitude for the enormous luck of getting to read children's books by Bulgarian authors in search of golden hazelnuts. I believe my sons will be happy too, with or without AI.
By November 15, 2026, nominate your own book or simply your child's favorite: peggyandmozzie.com/bg/awards-nominate. Send this piece to someone who writes or draws for children.
Squirrels gather hazelnuts for the winter. We gather books for the spring. And on April 2 we'll find out just how good the best really are…
