NEWS FEATURE
Show time for children’s books and librarians
Authors and illustrators recognised for turning the difficult and dismissed issues of the world into magical and fascinating stories that children need to understand their world.
WINNERS of 2025 Carnegie Medals for writing and illustration were announced in front of a more than 1,000 people, including around 600 young readers on the set of Matilda The Musical for a ceremony opened by the show’s character Mrs Phelps, the school librarian. Twenty-seven-year-old, Margaret McDonald’s debut YA novel Glasgow Boys (Faber) took the award for writing with an exploration of the lack of support young people get when leaving care. She also became the youngest winner in the award’s nearly 90-year history. The award for Illustration was won by Olivia Lomenech Gill
for Clever Crow, a non-fiction picture book about the adapt- ability, discerning memory and problem-solving techniques of crows, written by Chris Butterworth (Walker Books). These two winners were judged by an expert panel of chil- dren’s and youth librarians. Alongside this judge-led award, the competition runs two Shadower Awards, chosen by young readers from thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries across the UK and around the world. The young ‘shadow’ judges – who debate their views and choose their own winners from the shortlist – chose King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Bonnier Books UK) for this
year’s Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing. And the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration went to Homebody by author-illustrator Theo Parish (Macmillan Children’s Books).
Judged In 2025, the judging panel included 14 volunteer judges from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group led by Chair of Judges Ros Harding, who said: “Glasgow Boys is an immersive and vis- ceral read that completely draws the reader into the present and past lives of Finlay and Banjo. It is a book that will stay in the minds of the reader long after finishing it.” Its author Margaret McDonald once worked for the NHS and started writing Glasgow Boys when she was a student. The book includes her own experience of Crohn’s Disease, pain medication dependency and a working-class background – she also worked with a children’s therapist to ensure her depiction of the care system was authentic. The story is balanced with a message of “hope through friendship”. Margaret, who is donating her prize money to Action for Children, said: “I’m utterly delighted to be the recipient of this year’s Carnegie Medal for Writing. With Glasgow Boys,
10 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
Rewired 2025
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