The (German Youth Literature Award) is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's and young adult literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries have been recognised, including non-German speakers. Organisation The award is organized by the , also called AKJ or Association for Children's and Youth Literature, which receives financial support, including prize money, from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Awards are given in five categories: Best Picture Book, Best Children's Book, Best Youth Book, Best Non-Fiction Book and Choice of the Youth Jury. Up to six nominations in each category are announced in March at the Leipzig Book Fair, and the awards are presented during the Frankfurt Book Fair by the Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. In each category, the winning author receives a 10,000 euro cash prize, and a bronze statuette designed by Detlef Kraft representing Momo from the novel by Michael Ende. Furthermore, two special awards are presented alternately to German authors, illustrators or translators. The special award for lifetime achievement is set at 12,000 Euro. The newly created special award for new talents carries a value of 10,000 Euro. Both are also financed by the Federal Ministry. History Since the award was established, many changes have been made. When the (as the award was known until 1981) began in 1956, only two categories were recognised; Best Children's Book and Best Youth Book. In addition to these, a special prize was awarded every year in a different category. It was not until 1964 that the Best Picture Book and Best Non-fiction Book categories replaced this variable award. The final category recognized today, awarded by the , was not introduced until 2003, when it was originally called the Young People's Prize ().In 1991, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the award, the special award for lifetime achievement was reintroduced to recognise individual achievement for writers, illustrators and translators. In 2017 it was supplemented by the special award for new talents to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the award.. Jury Awards are decided upon by three juries: the (Critics' Jury), the and the Sonderpreisjury (special award jury). The decides the nominations and the majority of the prizes; the only decides the prize. The