* Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, 2004, for The Illustrated Mum
* Blue Peter Book of the Year Award, 1995, for Double Act
* British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, 1996, for The Suitcase Kid
* British Book Awards Children's Author of the Year, 1996, for The Suitcase Kid
* Nestlé Children's Book Prize, 1997, for Bad Girls
* Lancashire Children's Book of the Year, 1997, for Bad Girls
* Red House Children's Book Award, 1998, for Double Act
* Children's Book Circle Eleanor Farjeon Award, 2000, for The Illustrated Mum
* Children's Book Circle Eleanor Farjeon Lifetime Achievement Award, 2005
* Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 2002, for services to literature
* Hans Christian Andersen Award for Children's Literature, 2014