Announced today (Tuesday 15th March), four names that span half a century of children’s books stand out in the shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s most prestigious children’s book awards. Anthony Browne, Patrick Ness, Helen Oxenbury and Chris Riddell all have a chance of taking home a third Medal, unprecedented in the long history of the awards.
In a shortlist of novels thick with secrets and lies, Patrick Ness vies to be the first ever author to win the Carnegie Medal three times. Ness’s The Rest of Us Just Live Here follows the lives and loves of a group of teenagers and faces tough competition from Frances Hardinge’s Costa Book of the Year winner The Lie Tree, in which a young Victorian girl uses lies to find the truth behind her father’s murder, and Robin Talley’s debut, Lies We Tell Ourselves, which sees two teen girls fall in love across the race divide in 1950s America. Joining them on the shortlist are Nick Lake’s There Will Be Lies in which a teenage girl is forced to re-evaluate her identity, Jenny Valentine’s Fire Colour One whichexplores questions of authenticity and honesty, and Kate Saunders’s Five Children on the Western Front which looks at the reality of conflict and the impact of the First World War on a single family. Marcus Sedgwick’s The Ghosts of Heaven, four interlinking stories searching for the true meaning of life, and Sarah Crossan’s One, a tale of conjoined twins which explores notions of individuality, complete the Carnegie shortlist for 2016.
At the heart of the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist, awarded for outstanding illustration in a book for children, is a three-way face-off between former Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne, current Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell and Helen Oxenbury, all with two Medals already to their names. Oxenbury first won in 1969, nearly half a century ago, while Browne first won in 1983. Riddell, a relative newcomer, first won in 2001. Traditional picture book stories for younger readers make up the majority of the Kate Greenaway shortlist, following 2015’s more sombre list.
Browne employs a wide range of colours and styles in Willy’s Stories, to celebrate the worlds within a library, while Oxenbury’s distinctive style is at the fore in Captain Jack and the Pirates, merging soft blacks and whites with muted colours. Riddell uses a limited but highly evocative palette of black, white and gold in The Sleeper and the Spindle and Sydney Smith’s visual storytelling in Footpath Flowers uses selective colour against stark black and white. Ross Collins’s There’s a Bear on My Chair uses size, scale and words to create humour and contrast whilst Jackie Morris’s Something About A Bear brings the lives of the world’s bears to life with an almost painterly quality, and in Once Upon an Alphabet, Oliver Jeffers creates a distinctive visual style with bright colours and strong lines bringing each letter’s tale to life. Finally, previous Kate Greenaway Medal winner Jon Klassen uses earthy colours and increasingly dark shades in Sam & Dave Dig a Hole.
Sioned Jacques, Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals judging panel for 2016, said: “These exceptionally strong shortlists reflect the huge range of writing and illustrating talent in children’s publishing at the moment. The lists are a true celebration of the longevity of these wonderful talents, with Helen Oxenbury and Anthony Browne showing that they are still delivering incredible work decades after first winning a Medal. Questions of secrecy, lies, who we really are and how we identify ourselves are all explored in different, surprising and innovative ways. Our shortlisted writers and illustrators don’t shy away from difficult or big ideas but skilfully introduce them to young readers in ways that are gripping, moving, entertaining but always, without exception, page-turning.”
Dawn Finch, President of CILIP, said: “We are without doubt in a golden age of children’s books. From stories set in Victorian times and World War One to a modern day library, from fantasy worlds to the future, these shortlists showcase the enormous talent and unlimited imagination currently to be found in children’s storytelling. There are characters to fall in love and go on adventures with and journeys and discoveries to be made. Each and every one of the books on the shortlists could be a worthy winner and all of them are truly deserving of a global audience.”
The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the oldest children’s book awards in the UK, with the first winners announced in 1936 and 1956 respectively. The titles on the shortlists are contenders for the highest accolades in children’s literature, with previous winners including legendary talents Arthur Ransome, C.S Lewis and Mary Norton for the Carnegie Medal and illustrators Quentin Blake, Shirley Hughes and Raymond Briggs for the Kate Greenaway Medal.
The winners for both the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal will be announced on Monday 20th June at a lunchtime ceremony at the British Library. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library and a specially commissioned golden medal. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has been awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize and, from 2016, the Carnegie Medal winner will also be awarded an equal amount of prize money from the same fund. At the ceremony in June, one title from each shortlist will also be named the recipient of the Amnesty CILIP Honour, a brand new commendation for a book that most distinctively illuminates, upholds or celebrates freedoms. The two titles receiving the commendation will be able to carry an Amnesty CILIP Honour logo.
One by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)
There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury)
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders (Faber)
The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick (Indigo)
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (MiraInk, HarperCollins)
Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)
Willy’s Stories illustrated and written by Anthony Browne (Walker Books)
There’s a Bear on My Chair illustrated and written by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow)
Once Upon an Alphabet illustrated and written by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (Walker Books)
Something About a Bear illustrated and written by Jackie Morris (Frances Lincoln)
Captain Jack and the Pirates illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, written by Peter Bently (Puffin)
The Sleeper and the Spindle illustrated by Chris Riddell, written by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)
Footpath Flowers illustrated by Sydney Smith, written by JonArno Lawson (Walker Books)
Grace and Tippi are conjoined twins. And their lives are about to change. No longer able to afford homeschooling, they must venture into the world – a world of stares, sneers and cruelty. Will they find more than that at school? Can they find real friends? And what about love? But what neither Grace nor Tippi realises is that a heart-wrenching decision lies ahead. A decision that could tear them apart. One that will change their lives even more than they ever imagined.
About the Author
Sarah Crossan’s debut book, The Weight of Water, won The Eilís Dillon Award for a First Children’s Book, the We Read Prize and a UKLA Book Award. It was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal as was her next book, Apple and Rain. Sarah Crossan is originally from Dublin. She graduated with a degree in philosophy and literature before training as an English and drama teacher at Cambridge University. Sarah taught English at a small private school near New York until she became a full time writer. She completed her Masters in creative writing at the University of Warwick in 2003. She is also the author of Breathe and Resist.
Faith’s father has been found dead under mysterious circumstances. As she searches through his belongings for clues, she discovers a strange tree which only bears fruit if you whisper a lie to it. The fruit of the tree, when eaten, will deliver a hidden truth to the person who consumes it. The bigger the lie, the bigger the truth that is uncovered. The girl realizes that she is good at lying and that the tree might hold the key to her father’s murder. She begins to spread untruths far and wide across her small island community. But as her tales spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter…
About the Author
Frances Hardinge spent a large part of her childhood in a huge old house that inspired her to write strange stories from an early age. She read English at Oxford University, then got a job at a software company. However, a few years later, a persistent friend finally managed to bully Frances into sending a few chapters of Fly by Night, her first children’s novel, to a publisher. Macmillan made her an immediate offer. The book was published to huge critical acclaim and won the Branford Boase First Novel Award. The Lie Tree is Frances’s seventh novel and recently won the Costa Book of the Year 2015.
When Shelby gets knocked down by a car, it’s not just her leg that’s broken: Shelby’s world is shattered. Her mother turns up to collect her and drives off into the night, like it’s the beginning of a road trip, like two criminals on the run. And somehow, everywhere she looks, there’s a coyote watching her, talking to her, telling her not to believe. Who is Shelby Jane Cooper? If the person who keeps you safe also tells you lies, who can you trust?
About the Author
Nick Lake won the hugely prestigious Printz Award for outstanding young adult fiction for In Darkness, which was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. There Will Be Lies cements Nick’s position as writer of must-read, twisting thrillers with compellingly unreliable narrators.
What if you weren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you were like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life. Even if your best friend might just be the God of mountain lions…
About the Author
Patrick Ness is the award-winning and best-selling author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, A Monster Calls and More Than This. John Green has described him as “an insanely beautiful writer”. He has won every major prize in children’s fiction, including the Carnegie Medal twice. He’s also written the film of A Monster Calls out later this year. He lives in London.
An incredible, heart-wrenching sequel to E. Nesbit’s Five Children and It, set on the eve of the First World War. The five children have grown up and war will change their lives for ever. Cyril is off to fight, Anthea is at art college, Robert is a Cambridge scholar and Jane is at high school. The Lamb is the grown up age of 11, and he has a little sister, Edith, in tow. The sand fairy has become a creature of stories… until he suddenly reappears. The siblings are pleased to have something to take their minds off the war, but this time the Psammead is here for a reason, and his magic might have a more serious purpose. Before this last adventure ends, all will be changed and the war’s impact will be felt right at the heart of their family.
About the Author
Kate Saunders is a full-time author and journalist and has written many books for adults and children. Her books for children have won awards and received rave reviews, and include future classics such as Beswitched, Magicalamity, The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop and The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix. Kate is a true storyteller and her magical, wickedly hilarious novels allow young readers to escape their everyday lives into wonderful worlds where they are empowered to explore and enjoy themselves. Kate lives in London.
The spiral has existed as long as time has existed. Follow the ways of infinity to discover its meaning. It’s there when a girl walks through the forest, the moist green air clinging to her skin. There centuries later in a pleasant green dale, hiding the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who they call a witch. There on the other side of the world, where a mad poet watches the waves and knows the horrors they hide, and far into the future as Keir Bowman realises his destiny. Each takes their next step in life. None will ever go back to the same place. And so their journeys begin…
About the Author
Marcus Sedgwick used to work in children’s publishing and before that he was a bookseller. He now happily writes full-time. His books have been shortlisted for many awards, including The Guardian Children’s Fiction Award, the Blue Peter Book Award, the Carnegie Medal and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. Marcus lives in Cambridge and has a teenage daughter, Alice.
It’s 1959. The battle for civil rights is raging. And it’s Sarah’s first day of school as one of the first black students at previously all-white Jefferson High. No one wants Sarah there. Not the Governor. Not the teachers. And certainly not the students – especially Linda, daughter of the town’s most ardent segregationist. Sarah and Linda are supposed to despise each other. But the more time they spend together, the less their differences matter. And both girls start to feel something they’ve never felt before. Something they’re determined to ignore. Because it’s one thing to stand up to an unjust world – but another to be terrified of what’s in your own heart.
About the Author
Robin Talley grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, writing terrible teen poetry and riding a desegregation bus to the school across town. Robin lives in Washington, D.C., with her fiancée, plus an antisocial cat and a goofy hound dog. When Robin’s not writing, she’s often planning communication strategies at organizations fighting for equal rights and social justice.
A bold and brilliant novel about love, lies and redemption. Iris’s father, Ernest, is at the end of his life and she hasn’t even met him. Her best friend, Thurston, is somewhere on the other side of the world. Everything she thought she knew is up in flames. Now her mother has declared war and means to get her hands on Ernest’s priceless art collection. But Ernest has other ideas. There are things he wants Iris to know after he’s gone and the truth has more than one way of coming to light.
About the Author
Jenny Valentine worked in a wholefood shop in Primrose Hill for 15 years where she met many extraordinary people and sold more organic loaves than there are words in her first novel, Finding Violet Park, which won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 2007. She has also worked as a teaching assistant and a jewellery maker. She studied English Literature at Goldsmiths College, which almost put her off reading but not quite.
A fantastical celebration of stories and the imagination. Once a week, Willy walks through an ordinary-looking set of doors and straight into an adventure inspired by a beloved classic of children’s literature, from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to The Wind in the Willows. Where will those doors take him today: to a mysterious desert island with footprints in the sand; down a deep, dark rabbit hole full of curious objects; or perhaps on board a pirate ship? Wherever he ends up, Willy’s journeys begin when he walks through those inviting doors…
About the Illustrator and Author
Anthony Browne is one of the most celebrated author–illustrators working today. Children’s Laureate from 2009 to 2011 and winner of multiple awards – including the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal and the much-coveted Hans Christian Andersen Award – Anthony is renowned for his unique style. His work is loved and admired all around the world. Anthony lives in Canterbury, Kent.
Poor Mouse! A bear has settled in his favourite chair and that chair just isn’t big enough for two. Mouse tries all kinds of tactics to move the pesky Bear but nothing works and poor Mouse gives up. Once Mouse has eventually gone, Bear gets up and walks home. But what’s that? Is that a Mouse in Bear’s house?!
About the Illustrator and Author
Ross’ primary teacher, Mrs Spears, told his parents that he should go to art school. 13 years went by until he was finally ‘old enough’ to get into the Glasgow School of Art. On graduating he won the Macmillan Prize for his first picture book. Since then he’s illustrated over 100 books for children and written a few of them too. Several of them have won enormous glittering awards which he keeps in a box in Latvia. Ross’ book The Elephantom was recently adapted into a critically acclaimed play at the National Theatre who made that War Horse thing. When he’s not creating children’s books he enjoys working on character development for animation studios like Laika and Disney. He also likes walking in the Scottish glens with his dog Hugo, who is an idiot, and his partner Jacqui, who is not.
The letters of our alphabet work tirelessly to make words that in turn make stories, but what if there was a story FOR each of the letters instead? Find out in a work of exhilarating originality, gloriously bringing the alphabet to life in irresistible Oliver Jeffers style – an adventure to follow from A to Z, or a treasure trove to dip in and out of. Within you will discover twenty-six short stories introducing a host of new characters (plus the occasional familiar face). From Edmund the astronaut with his awkward fear of heights to the dynamic investigative duo of the Owl and the Octopus, this book is packed with funny, thrilling, perilous and entertaining tales
About the Illustrator and Author
Oliver Jeffers graduated from The University of Ulster in 2001 with First Class Honours. His outstanding talent has been recognised by several high-profile awards, including the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Gold Award. The animation based on his best-selling book, Lost and Found, has won numerous awards and was broadcast on Channel 4. Oliver lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
From the award-winning team behind Extra Yarn, and illustrated by Jon Klassen, the Kate Greenaway-winning creator of I Want My Hat Back, comes a deadpan tale full of visual humour. Sam and Dave are on a mission. A mission to find something spectacular. So they dig a hole. And they keep digging. And they find … nothing. Yet the day turns out to be pretty spectacular after all. Attentive readers will be rewarded with a rare treasure in this witty story of looking for the extraordinary – and finding it in a manner they’d never expect.
About the Illustrator
Jon Klassen is the author-illustrator of I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat, the only book to ever win both the Kate Greenaway and Caldecott Medal. He also illustrated Mac Barnett’s Extra Yarn and served as an illustrator on the animated feature film Coraline. His illustrations for Caroline Stutson’s Cats Night Out won the Governor General’s Award in 2010. Originally from Niagara Falls, Canada, Jon now lives in Los Angeles, California.
Where the water churns with salmon, thick and rich with leaping fishes, there the brown bear stands and catches the wild king of the river. With stunning watercolour paintings, this lyrical picture book describes eight bears from all over the world, all shown in their wild habitats: Black Bear, Polar Bear, Sloth Bear, Spectacle Bear, Sunbear, Panda, Moonbear, Brown Bear. But which is the best bear of all? Your own teddy bear of course!
About the Illustrator and Author
Jackie Morris is an author/illustrator who lives in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with children, dogs and cats. Ever since leaving college, the Bath Academy of Art, at least one cat has watched over her while she works. Big and small cats are a passion in her life, and it was while reading and watching her cat Pixie sleeping in winter that the idea for I am Cat came about. As well as Something About a Bear, her many other books for Frances Lincoln include The Ice Bear, The Snow Leopard, Tell me a Dragon, and How the Whale Became by Ted Hughes.
From the award-winning co-creator of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Peter Bently comes this utterly delightful picture book that sees a family day out at the beach turn into a wonderful piratical adventure! Make-believe fun, illustrated by picture book star, Helen Oxenbury, will capture the imaginations of children everywhere. This is sure to be a classic.
About the Illustrator
Helen Oxenbury has charmed generations with her illustrations. Winner of the Kate Greenaway and Nestlé Smarties Prize, her books include We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She lives in London with her husband John Burningham.
On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.
About the Illustrator
Chris Riddell is the current Children’s Laureate, a much loved illustrator and acclaimed political cartoonist. He has won the Nestlé Gold Award and two Kate Greenaway Medals. He is co-creator of the hugely successful New York Times bestseller the Edge Chronicles, author and illustrator of the Ottoline books and works for The Observer newspaper.
In this wordless, beautifully illustrated picture book from award-winning poet JonArno Lawson, a little girl collects wild flowers while her distracted father pays her – and their surroundings – little attention. Each flower the little girl gathers becomes a gift for a person or animal, and both giver and recipient are transformed by their encounter. An ode to the importance of small things, small people and small gestures, it is a quiet but powerful testament to the joy that children can find in ordinary things and the mutual value of giving.
About the Illustrator
Sydney Smith was born in rural Nova Scotia and has been drawing from an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children’s books, including the highly acclaimed wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers, conceived by JonArno Lawson, which won a Governor General’s Award and was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book. He is also the illustrator of Grant and Tillie Go Walking by Monica Kulling and The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart. Sydney has received a number of other awards for his illustrations, including the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. He lives in Toronto and works in a shared studio space in Chinatown.