carnegies.co.uk | #Carnegies2025 | @CarnegieMedals
Tuesday 11 March 2025: The Carnegies, the UK’s longest running and best-loved book awards for children and young people, announced their 2025 shortlists at the London Book Fair this afternoon.
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 Medals voted for by thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and around the world, who shadow the judging process and choose their own winners.
16 books have been shortlisted in total, with eight in each category for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration; whittled down from 35 longlisted titles by the judging panel, which includes 14 children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group. The awards aim to spark a lifelong passion for reading by connecting more children with books that will change lives.
The 2025 Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist is (alphabetical by author surname):
The 2025 Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist is (alphabetical by illustrator surname):
Ros Harding, Chair of Judges for The Carnegies 2025, said:
“On behalf of the judging panel, I would like to offer a huge congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators. The two lists highlight the diversity and high quality within publishing for children and young people in the UK. Many of the titles on the writing shortlist deal with themes around masculinity and boys finding their place in society, and the shortlisted authors successfully tackle these big ideas through believable and relatable characters, whilst avoiding lecturing young people. The concept of stories plays an important part in the shortlisted books across both lists, whether this is about the joy that can be found through discovering books or about the stories we tell ourselves and others to make sense of the world around us. It is wonderful to see such an inclusive range of cultures, experiences, voices and illustrative styles feature in the shortlisted books and as a judging panel, we are so excited to be a part of introducing these incredible books to the shadowing groups.”
THE SHORTLISTS IN MORE DETAIL
Twenty-five years since winning the Carnegie Medal for Illustration in 2000 for her first Charlie and Lola book, Lauren Child is shortlisted for Grey, written by Laura Dockrill, the ‘fresh and original’ story of a child who feels their colours have disappeared. The judges admired the use of cut-outs to ‘alter perspective,’ and a monochrome colour palette to reflect low mood, which contrasts ‘powerfully’ with brighter, more hopeful colours as the child is reassured by their mother.
Chinese illustrator Yu Rong secures her third Carnegie shortlisting with Flying High, written by Cao Wenxuan (winner of the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Award in 2016), the story of a courageous bird who shows a human friend that being different can be a strength. Yu Rong innovatively draws on traditional Chinese techniques to ‘playfully’ fuse paper cuts with ‘ethereal’ pencil drawings in this ‘visually stunning and vibrant,’ picture book.
Birds are also celebrated in ‘innovative’ non-fiction picture book Clever Crow,illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill and written by Chris Butterfield. The judges praised the ‘sheer variety’ of different illustrative styles, including watercolours, pastels and collage, and the use of a dark colour palette to create a ‘raw, organic and earthy feel’ appropriate to the birds and synergistic with the text.
Theo Parish, one of two debut author-illustrators competing for the Medal for Illustration, has been shortlisted for Homebody, a ‘memorable’ and ‘original’ graphic novel about trans identity and the importance of living authentically. Judges hailed this ‘important book,’ as an ‘original’ take on a ‘complex’ subject, ‘illustrated beautifully’ using the colour palette of the trans flag.
Fellow debut author-illustrator Kate Rolfe is shortlisted for Wolf and Bear, a ‘powerful’ and hopeful look at depression through the friendship between two caring animals, using the interplay of light and shadow to make a complex emotional experience relatable to younger children. Kate won the V&A Student Illustrator of the Year award in 2022 and is a bookseller at a children’s bookshop in Suffolk.
The only debut on the Medal for Writing shortlist is Glasgow Boys by former NHS worker Margaret McDonald, an ‘outstanding,’ ‘honest’ story exploring mental health, trauma and inequality through the precarious friendship between two boys growing up in foster care. The judges highlighted the ’empathy,’ ‘tenderness’ and ‘hope’ in a story examining identity ‘in all its complexity.’
Fellow Scottish author Brian Conaghan has secured his second shortlisting for the Medal for Writing with Treacle Town. This ‘highly authentic and realistic’ story explores poverty and lack of opportunity as a teenage boy embraces slam poetry to escape gang violence and secure a hopeful future, with dialect conveying ‘a strong sense of place to help immerse the reader.’
Secondary school teacher Luke Palmer has been shortlisted for his ‘real, authentic and raw’ young adult novel Play, a story of disaffected youth, friendship and peer pressure as four boys navigate society’s expectations of what it means to be a man.
Masculinity is also explored in South Londoner Nathanael Lessore’s King of Nothing, a ‘fresh and innovative’ story about a self-proclaimed bad boy whose unlikely new friendship makes him question his priorities, told with ‘warmth, humour and authenticity,’ which ‘challenges readers to look inwards at their own behaviour.’
Multi-award-winning poet and writer Matt Goodfellow is shortlisted for The Final Year, a ‘lyrical and poetic’ verse novel about change and adaptation where a young boy’s love of reading and writing is encouraged by a teacher as a way to process anger and find his voice. The judges highlighted ‘powerful’ and empathetic characterisation in a story that was both ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘joyful.’
The transformative power of reading is also celebrated in a trio of picture books on the Medal for Illustration shortlist. Mexican illustrator Juan Palomino’s Letters in Charcoal, written by Irene Vasco, is a ‘fresh and innovative’ historical story set in Columbia, about how learning to read changes an illiterate girl’s life, with ‘earthy tones’ used to ‘convey mood and place.’
Author-illustrator Mariajo Ilustrajo’s I Love Books is an ‘original’ and ‘immersive’ story about the joy of discovering a connection with books for the first time, told in a ‘warm, enjoyable and inviting style.’
Costa Rican artist Wen Hsu Chen’s The Invisible Story, written by Jamie Gamboa, about a blind girl finding adventure in a Braille book, combines ‘intricate’ white paper craft to evoke the girl’s inner world with ‘beautiful’ watercolour, representing the magical world inside the book which only she can access.
Also ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard, Zimbabwean writer Blessing Musariri is shortlisted for the Medal for Writing for All That It Ever Meant, exploring cultural identity and loss as a neurodivergent girl moves between continents with her family after the death of her mother. This ‘powerful’ and ‘compelling’ coming-of-age story ‘has so many beautiful and poignant ways of describing grief,’ commented the judges.
Belfast writer Kelly McCaughrain has been shortlisted for Little Bang, a ‘warm and wise’ Northern Irish romance exploring teen pregnancy and a young woman’s right to choose her own future, which was praised by the judges for exploring all sides of an emotive topic and ‘sensitively opening up perspectives around the choices people make.’
Clare Furniss is shortlisted for her ‘exceptionally well crafted’ dystopian novel The Things We Leave Behind set in a near-future London at the epicentre of the refugee crisis and following a teenager and her sister on a treacherous journey to safety. The judges highlighted its sense of ‘hope’ for the future and ‘the possibility of new beginnings’ – a feature shared by all the books shortlisted for the Medal for Writing.
The winners will be announced and celebrated on Thursday 19 June at a live and streamed ceremony at the Cambridge Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s multi award-winning Matilda The Musical. The ceremony will be hosted by Joseph Coelho, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Writing in 2024.
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.
As the official book supplier, Scholastic are working with CILIP to donate shortlist packs to 10 schools in disadvantaged areas to allow them to also take part in the shadowing and widen the reach of engagement with the awards. Applications will be open from 24 – 31 March with packs to be sent out immediately afterwards to the selected schools.
As Shadowing resource partners, the English and Media Centre (EMC), the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE), and the Youth Libraries Group have developed engaging reading resources for each shortlisted book, complete with activity ideas and discussion prompts. EMC focuses on writing resources, while CLPE provides resources on illustration. See here for more information about the Shadowing resource partners.
The 2025 Carnegie Awards are supported by three key sponsors: Scholastic, the official book supplier, with the shortlist available to order now; 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
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Author and illustrator biographies and images, book synopses and jackets
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
KEY DATES
The Carnegies
About CILIP, the library and information association
About Sora
About Scholastic
About ALCS
About First News