NEWS
www.yotocarnegies.co.uk
Judges and shadowers put poetry into Carnegie Medals
Poetry and wordless story-telling take centre stage as Joseph Coelho, Aaron Becker and Tia Fisher win awards.
AFTER months of scrutiny by a panel of expert librarian judges and an equally daunting panel of thousands of children, the winning authors and illustrators of this year’s Yoto Carnegie Medals were announced in front of an audience of more than 600 children. Joseph Coelho, Waterstones Children’s
Laureate, took the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing with his verse novel, The Boy Lost in the Maze illustrated by Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books) – which portrays a boy’s journey into manhood and “cleverly integrates” the ancient legacy of the Mino- taur. In doing so he became the first black British author to win the writing medal. Judges awarded the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration to Aaron Becker for his word- less picture book The Tree and the River (Walker Books), which looks at the evolution of human impact on the natural environ- ment through the fate of a lone tree and an enduring river.
Shadowers’ choices Yoto Carnegies are judged by an expert panel of children’s and youth librarians, including 12 librarians from CILIP’s special
Joseph Coelho.
interest group, the Youth Libraries Group. The shortlisted titles are also judged by the children and young people taking part in ‘shadowing’ the judging process. This year Aaron Becker’s The Tree and
The River was a double winner, picking up the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration alongside the judges’ Medal. The Shadowers’ Choice Award is selected by members of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and around the world. And the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing was Tia Fisher’s debut novel told in verse. Crossing the Line (Bon- nier Books UK) is based on a true story about teenagers swept up into county lines.
What the judges said Maura Farrelly, Chair of Judges for The Yoto Carnegies 2024, said: “The Boy Lost in the Maze is an extraordi- nary novel told through poems about two boys searching for their fathers. It is a multi-layered immersive read which is playful in its language and construction and is as architectural as the mythical maze itself. The Tree and the River is a beautiful visual narrative of the natural world and the impact of humankind which invites readers to become absorbed in the landscapes.
10 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL June 2024
Aaron Becker.
The epic spreads are alive with intricate detail and gorgeous use of light and co- lour. Both are ambitious and exciting books that inspire the imagination and empower young readers.” Joseph Coelho, whose first job was in a library and who, as current Waterstones Children’s Laureate, undertook the ‘library marathon’ project which saw him visit and join a library in every region of the UK – 213 nationwide said he was “abso- lutely delighted,” adding: “The Boy Lost in the Maze is a novel that means a great deal to me and so to have it recognised by the UK’s, if not the world’s, most presti- gious award for children’s literature feels
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
