Ahlberg, in a post on The Bookseller, writes that he initially felt delighted about the award, but decided to refuse it when he discovered Amazon was the sponsor. He disagrees with the company's tax arrangement in the U.K.
Amazon's low tax rate was first revealed in 2012 and highlighted last year: The company paid just £4.2 million in tax last year on £4.3 billion in sales.
"When companies like Amazon cheat - paying 0.1% on billions, pretending it is earning money not in the UK, but in Luxembourg - that's a bad thing," he writes.
Ahlberg is famous for his many children's books in the U.K., 37 of which are illustrated by his late wife, Janet.
"The idea that my 'lifetime achievement' ...should have the Amazon tag attached to it is unacceptable," he writes.
He isn't the only author taking issue with Amazon right now. In the U.S., a pricing battle rages on between Amazon and book publisher Hachette, and authors are stuck in the middle.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.