Wednesday 12th February 2025: The Carnegies, the UK’s longest running and best loved book awards for children and young people, today announced their longlists for 2025. British writers and independent publishers dominate the Medal for Writing this year with masculinity and a search for self, grief and recovery, prevalent themes in stories that reflect the realities of young lives while offering hope in the future. International illustrators are at the forefront of the Medal for Illustration list with the transformative power of books, nature and the environment celebrated in stories that speak through bold and innovative interplays of colour, texture and technique.
A total of 35 titles have been selected from 19 different publishers; 19 titles for the Carnegie Medal for Writing, and 16 for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration.
Independent publishers dominate with 23 books longlisted from 13 different publishing houses, including small presses Firefly Press, Otter-Barry, Little Island, Lantana and UCLan Publishing.
Tom Percival is longlisted as both writer and illustrator for two books published by Simon & Schuster: The Wrong Shoes in the Medal for Writing, and The Bridges in the Medal for Illustration category
British writers dominate the Medal for Writing longlist, including Scottish writers Brian Conaghan, and Margaret McDonald, Welsh writer Lesley Parr and Irish writer C.G. Moore.
International talent dominates the Medal for Illustration with illustrators longlisted from across the globe including Mexico, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Spain, Canada and the US, as well as the UK.
2024 Medal for Illustration and Shadowers’ Choice Award for Illustration winner Aaron Becker is longlisted for The Last Zookeeper alongside two other previous winners of the Medal for Illustration: two-time winner in 2018 and 2021 Sydney Smith for Do You Remember? and winner in 2000, Lauren Child for Grey.
5 writers previously shortlisted for the Medal for Writing have been longlisted- Brian Conaghan, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Frances Hardinge, Nathanael Lessore, and Jenny Valentine, with a first longlisting for the ‘Queen of YA Fiction’, Holly Bourne.
Walker Books leads the field for publisher nominations with 8 titles longlisted across both Medal lists, 6 in the Illustration category and 2 for Writing. Simon & Schuster follows with 5 longlisted titles, 4 for the Medal in Writing and 1 for Illustration.
The Carnegies celebrate outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people. They are unique in being judged by librarians, with the Shadowers’ Choice Medal voted for by children and young people. The awards aim to spark a lifelong passion for reading by connecting more children with books that will change lives. The longlists were chosen from 119 nominations by the judging panel which includes 14 children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group.
The 2025 Carnegie Medal for Writing longlist is (alphabetical by author surname):
On Silver Tides by Sylvia Bishop (Andersen Press)
You Could Be So Pretty by Holly Bourne (Usborne)
I Am Wolf by Alastair Chisholm (Nosy Crow)
Treacle Town by Brian Conaghan (Andersen Press)
Sisters of the Moon by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (Faber & Faber)
The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster)
The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (Otter-Barry Books)
Island of Whispers by Frances Hardinge, illustrated by Emily Gravett (Macmillan Children’s)
If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster)
King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Bonnier Books UK)
Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain (Walker)
Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald (Faber & Faber)
Trigger by C.G. Moore (Little Island Books)
All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri (Head of Zeus)
Play by Luke Palmer (Firefly Press)
Fallout by Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
Louder Than Hunger by John Schu (Walker)
Us in the Before and After by Jenny Valentine (Simon & Schuster)
The 2025 Carnegie Medal for Illustration longlist is (alphabetical by illustrator surname):
The Last Zookeeper by Aaron Becker (Walker)
The Invisible Story by Wen Hsu Chen, written by Jaime Gamboa, translated by Daniel Hahn (Lantana)
Grey by Lauren Child, written by Laura Dockrill (Walker)
Flower Block by Hoang Giang, written by Lanisha Butterfield (Puffin)
I Love Books by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Quarto)
The Dictionary Story by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston (Walker)
Clever Crow by Olivia Lomenech Gill, written by Chris Butterworth (Walker)
Dive, Dive into the Night Sea by Thea Lu (Walker)
Letters in Charcoal by Juan Palomino, written by Irene Vasco, translated by Lawrence Schimel (Lantana)
Homebody by Theo Parish (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The Bridges by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
Wolf and Bear by Kate Rolfe (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Flying High by Yu Rong, written by Cao Wenxuan, translated by Simone-Davina Monnelly and Jake Hope (UCLan Publishing)
Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith (Walker)
Grandad’s Star by Rhian Stone, written by Frances Tosdevin (Harper Collins Publishers)
The Wild by Yuval Zommer (Oxford University Press)
Ros Harding, Chair of Judges for The Carnegies 2025, said:
“A huge congratulations goes out to all our longlisted authors and illustrators. These fantastic lists highlight the exciting landscape of publishing for children and young people. It has been an incredible honour to chair a dedicated, passionate and respectful panel of judges through the debates over the nominated titles. They have arrived at two longlists that celebrate a diversity of ideas, themes, viewpoints, language and illustrative styles. There is a strong focus on identity in all its many forms. These are books that will both challenge and comfort children and young people, as they navigate the world around them.”
Masculinity and what it is to be a young man has emerged as an important theme on the Medal for Writing longlist and is explored by Danielle Jawando in If My Words Had Wings,the life affirming story of a teenage boy who finds his voice through spoken word after being released from a young offenders’ prison, and bydebut author Margaret McDonald in Glasgow Boys, a story about the precarious friendship between two boys growing up in foster care. Play by Luke Palmer is a story of disaffected youth as four boys navigate society’s expectations of what it means to be a man, while Nathanael Lessore’s heartwarming King of Nothing offers a comedic take on the theme, as a self-proclaimed bad boy forges an unlikely friendship that makes him reassess his priorities. Two verse novels exploring hard-hitting subjects from the perspective of teenage boys are Louder Than Hunger by children’s librarian John Schu, about disordered eating, and Trigger,an impactful story about sexual assault by acclaimed Irish author C.G. Moore. The perspectives of younger boys finding their place in the world are offered in the fantastical and futuristic story I am Wolf by Alastair Chisholm, powerful verse novel The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow and 1980s set novel Fallout by multi-award-winning Welsh writer Lesley Parr, the story of a boy seeking a life free from his criminal family.
Societal pressures on teenage girls are explored in several novels on the Writing longlist including Little Bang, a bittersweet Northern Irish romance exploring teen pregnancy and a young woman’s right to choose her own future by Kelly McCaughrain;and powerful dystopian novel You Could Be So Pretty by first-time Carnegie longlisted Holly Bourne.Another dystopian novel, The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss depicts a near-future London at the epicentre of the refugee crisis while the redemptive power of female friendship is explored in Jenny Valentine’s emotional novel Us in the Before and After and Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick’s atmospheric Sisters of the Moon.
Lack of opportunity balanced with hope for the future is explored in Treacle Town by Scottish former teacher, Brian Conaghan,as a teenage boy embraces the world of slam poetry to escape gang violence; and The Wrong Shoes by award-winning author-illustrator Tom Percival, anempathetic novel about living in poverty but finding hope in friendship and art. Grief and recovery are the central themes of All That It Ever Meant, about a neurodivergent girl coming to terms with the death of her mother, by Zimbabwean writer Blessing Musariri,and Island of Whispers, a compelling gothic fantasy about loss, kindness and fulfilling one’s destiny by Frances Hardinge.
The transformative power of reading is explored by several books on the Medal for Illustration list including The Bridges by author-illustrator Tom Percival, aboutan isolated girl on a remote island who connects with the rest of the world through books; Columbia set Letters in Charcoal written by Irene Vasco and colourfully illustrated by Juan Palomino; and I Love Books celebrating the power of books to feed the imaginationby Spanish writer-illustrator Mariajo Ilustrajo. The Invisible Storyby Jamie Gamboa, illustrated by Wen Hsu Chen, combines watercolours and cut-paper illustrations to tell the story of a young blind girl finding adventure in a Braille book and The Dictionary Story by author-illustrators Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston is a boundary-pushing celebration of the beauty of words featuring innovative interplays of typography and illustration.
Nature and the environment are once again central themes on the Medal for Illustration longlist explored in wordless picture book The Last Zookeeper, a futuristic Noah’s Ark parable for our changing world by 2024 winner Aaron Becker;The Wild, a hopeful contemporary fable about how our environment needs us just as much as we need it by Yuval Zommer; and Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang, which celebrates the power of nature to bring communities together. Water is central to longlisted titles on both lists, with monochrome and bioluminescent colours used to depict a magical underwater world in Dive, Dive into the Night Sea by Thea Lu, whilst on the Medal for Writing list, On Silver Tides by Sylvia Bishop is a lyrical fantasy about protecting our rivers and streams. The brilliance of birdsis celebrated innon-fiction picture book Clever Crow by Chris Butterfield,illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill using watercolours, pastels and collage, and in former Carnegie shortlisted illustrator Yu Rong’s Flying High where an innovative fusion of paper-cut and pencil illustrations are used to tell the story of a courageous bird who shows a human friend that being different can be a strength.
Three debuts feature on the Illustration list; Homebody by Theo Parish, an empowering graphic novel about trans identity and the importance of living authentically; Grandad’s Star, written by Frances Tosdevin and illustrated by Rhian Stone, about the impact of a beloved grandfather’s dementia; and Wolf and Bear by Kate Rolfe, a look at depression through the friendship between two caring animals using the interplay of light and shadow to reflect the emotional experience. Former winners featuring on the longlist include double Medal winner Sydney Smith for Do You Remember? a tender story of family separation and new beginnings; and Lauren Child for Grey, written by Laura Dockrill, a beautifully crafted story using colour and cut-outs to tell the story of a child who feels their colours have disappeared.
The shortlists for the 2025 Carnegies will be announced at a panel event at London Book Fair beginning at 3.15pm on Tuesday 11th March. The winners’ ceremony will be hosted live at the Cambridge Theatre and streamed on Thursday 19 June. The winners will each receive a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize. The winners of the Shadowers’ Choice Medals – voted for and awarded by the children and young people – will also be presented at the ceremony. They will also receive a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.
The 2025 Carnegie Awards are supported by three key sponsors: Scholastic, the official book supplier; ALCS; and Sora, the new official digital partner. Named one of TIME’s Best Inventions, the Sora student reading app will provide free access to all available shortlisted digital books for shadowing groups, enhancing inclusivity and fostering a love of reading among young people. First News are the official media partner.
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For further information on The Carnegies 2025 please visit: www.carnegies.co.uk #Carnegies2025 | @CarnegieMedals on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky & TikTok
For media and interview requests, please contact: Emma Dowson or Katie Cregg at ed public relations on edowson@edpr.co.uk or Katie@edpr.co.uk or 020 7732 4796.
Author and illustrator biographies and images, book synopses and jackets are available to download here.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
KEY DATES
Tuesday 11 March 2025: Shortlists announced (15:45 GMT)
Wednesday 12 March 2025: Shadowing begins
Thursday 19 June 2025: Winners announced at a live-streamed ceremony
The Carnegies
The Carnegies celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration respectively and are unique in being judged solely by librarians.
The Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded annually to a children’s book author whose writing creates an outstanding reading experience. It was established in 1936 in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919).
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (previously known as the Kate Greenaway Medal), established in 1955, is awarded annually to a children’s book illustrator whose artwork creates an outstanding reading experience.
Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and overseas get involved in the Awards, with children and young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process. They read, discuss and review the books on the shortlists, get involved in reading related activities in groups, and vote for their favourite books to win the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medals for Writing and Illustration.
In 2024, the Carnegie Medal for Writing was awarded for the first time to a Black British author, and then Children’s Laureate – Joseph Coelho – for his novel in verse The Boy Lost in the Maze illustrated by Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books). The 2024 Carnegie Medal for Illustration and Shadowers’ Choice Award for Illustration were both awarded to Aaron Becker in a double-win for his wordless picture book The Tree and the River (Walker Books). The Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing went to Tia Fisher for her debut novel told in verse, Crossing the Line (Bonnier Books UK).
About CILIP, the library and information association
The Carnegies are managed by CILIP, the library and information association. The Medals are awarded annually by CILIP and the Youth Libraries Group (YLG) with longlists announced in February, shortlists in March and the winners announced at a ceremony in June.
CILIP is the leading voice for the information, knowledge management and library profession. Our goal is to put information and library skills and professional values at the heart of a democratic, equal and prosperous society.
CILIP is a registered charity, no. 313014. The YLG is a special interest group of CILIP who work to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services.
YLG has 12 regional committees covering all of the UK, and each committee advertises and democratically recruits a judge to represent them on the panel of judges. Each judge serves a two-year term and each year the panel is a unique mix of new and experienced judges led by the Chair of Judges. Following the independent diversity review of the Awards, CILIP introduced a co-opting procedure so that if this recruitment process does not result in a sufficiently diverse and representative judging panel, up to two judges will be co-opted to join the panel.
In 2025, the judging panel includes 14 volunteer judges from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group and Chair of Judges Ros Harding. Find out more about this year’s judges here.
About Sora
Named one of TIME’s Best Inventions, the Sora student reading app provides every student with access to the right books. Sora is used by 62,000 K-12 schools and millions of students worldwide, supporting the need for required curriculum titles, class sets and pleasure reading with the largest catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, digital magazines and other content. TeachingBooks.net (acquired in 2021) complements Sora with one of the largest sets of book-specific supplemental resources that “bring books to life.” Parent company OverDrive – which also provides digital content to public, academic and corporate libraries through the Libby reading app – was founded in 1986 and is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA.
For 100 years, Scholastic Corporation has been encouraging the personal and intellectual growth of all children, beginning with literacy. Having earned a reputation as a trusted partner to educators and families, Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, a leading provider of literacy curriculum, professional services, and classroom magazines, and a producer of educational and entertaining children’s media. The Company creates and distributes bestselling books and e-books, print and technology-based learning programs for pre-K to grade 12, and other products and services that support children’s learning and literacy, both in school and at home. With 15 international operations and exports to 165 countries, Scholastic makes quality, affordable books available to all children around the world through school-based book clubs and book fairs, classroom libraries, school and public libraries, retail, and online.
The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers’ work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal. It represents over 120,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £650million to writers.
First News is the official media partner for the Carnegies 2025.
First News provides children and young people with a reliable and age-appropriate news source through their award-winning newspaper, app and learning resources.
First News was founded by Nicky Cox MBE and Sarah Thomson in 2006 with a mission that remains true today: to offer trustworthy, age-appropriate news to children, enhance critical thinking skills, promote reading for pleasure, and nurture global citizenship.
First News is the number one national newspaper for children reaching over 2.6 million children every week at home and at school.
Expertly written by award-winning journalists, First News takes the fear our of sensationalised world events that children hear by providing a balanced and truthful view of the world, carefully, and sensitively written to explain the background to stories in the news.
