125 BOOKS NOMINATED FOR 2026 CARNEGIE MEDALS AS NEW AGE-INCLUSIVE SHADOWING OFFER ANNOUNCED
carnegies.co.uk | #Carnegies2026 | @CarnegieMedals
Monday 3 November 2025: Nominations have been announced for the 2026 Carnegies, the UK’s longest-running and best-loved children’s book awards.
A grand total of 125 books have been nominated for the 2026 Medals. 62 books are in contention for the Carnegie Medal for Writing, which is awarded to a book written in English for children and young people that sparks an outstanding reading experience, and 65 books for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, which celebrates an outstanding reading experience through illustration. This includes two titles that have received nominations in both Medal categories.
Among the nominees is Jeremy Strong, a beloved author and champion of school libraries, posthumously recognised for his final work Fox Goes North.
Carnegie Medal for Writing Nominated Titles 2026
Carnegie Medal for Illustration Nominated Titles 2026
The Carnegies are organised by CILIP, the UK’s library and information association, and are uniquely judged by librarians. CILIP accepted nominations for the 2026 Carnegies from its members, as well as nine external bodies: BookTrust, CLPE, Commonword, the English and Media Centre, IBBY, National Literacy Trust, RNIB, The Reading Agency, and CILIP’s School Libraries Group. CILIP invited nominations that met the criteria for the Medals and reflected the spirit of the Awards mission: To champion librarians to inspire and empower the next generation to create a better world through books and reading.
What happens next?
Each nominated book is read by all 14 members of the 2026 judging panel, librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group (YLG) who volunteer their time and expertise. From these nominations, the judges will determine the longlists, shortlists, and ultimately the 2026 Medal winners, based on the official criteria for Writing and Illustration.
The longlists and shortlists will spotlight outstanding books for children and young people across ages and interests, celebrating world-class writing and illustration from both new and established talent.
Get involved
Children and young people will once again take on the role of judges through the Carnegie Shadowing Scheme – a reading-for-pleasure initiative that brings the Carnegie books to life in schools and libraries across the UK and overseas. Shadowing groups read, review and creatively engage with the titles before voting for their favourites, with winners announced at the ceremony in June 2026.
New for the 2026 National Year of Reading, the Carnegies will pilot an age-inclusive longlist shadowing offer, designed to make it easier for reading groups of all ages to take part. For the first time, groups will be able to shadow the longlisted books with age guidance, tailored resources, and flexible ways to build their own book selections, supporting more schools and libraries to get involved. The shortlist shadowing offer will also continue as in previous years for groups who wish to take part.
Shadowing registration for 2026 is now open. Group leaders can sign up now to receive a free publicity pack when the shortlists are announced in March.
Scholastic pre-orders are also open, offering discounts on longlist and shortlist book packs for schools and libraries.
While waiting for shadowing to begin, groups can register with Sora, our digital reading partner, to access the 2025 shortlisted books for free, and enjoy free access to the 2026 shortlists once announced.
The 2026 Carnegies promise another exciting year of celebrating outstanding books and the transformative power of reading. It starts with a spark.
The Carnegies are sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS), Sora, and Scholastic. If you are interested in partnering with CILIP on the 2026 Carnegies, please email Mackenzie Warner at mackenzie.warner@cilip.org.uk.
KEY DATES FOR THE CARNEGIES 2026:
Tuesday 10 February 2026: Longlists announced
Tuesday 10 March 2026: Shortlists announced (15:45 GMT)
Wednesday 11 March 2026: Shadowing begins
Tuesday 23 June 2026: Carnegie Medal Winners announced
– ENDS –
For further information on the Carnegies 2026 please visit: www.carnegies.co.uk
The Carnegies logo can be downloaded here.
#Carnegies2026 | @CarnegieMedals
For media and interview requests, please contact:
Kirsten Cozens at ed public relations on kirsten@edpr.co.uk or 020 7732 4796.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Carnegies
- The Carnegies, now in their 89th year, 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.
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 2026, the judging panel includes 14 volunteer judges from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group and Chair of Judges Stella Hine. 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.
- To learn more, visit discoversora.com/global
About Scholastic
- 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.
- Learn more at www.scholastic.com.
About Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS)
- 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 for writers. It represents over 125,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £750 million to writers.
alcs.co.uk
