NEWS Carnegie Medals longlist announced
THE Longlist for CILIP’s children’s book awards, The Carnegies, has been announced with a mix of familiar and new names hoping to land a prestigious Medal. The Carnegies are the UK’s oldest children’s book awards, and celebrate the best writing and illustration for children and young people. The awards are nominated by librarians, with this month’s longlist announcement the first step towards the awards ceremony on 19 June. The flagship event will also see the winners of this year’s Shadowers’ Choice Awards named, recognising the two books that are most loved by the thousands of young readers who take part in the Shadowing scheme each year.
Familiar venue, familiar host
This year’s awards ceremony will be returning to the spec- tacular Cambridge Theatre, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda the Musical. The venue played host to last year’s awards for the first time, when Joseph Coelho won the Carnegie Medal for writing for his book The Boy Lost in the Maze. And Joseph will be returning this year, not as a short- listed author but as host – bringing his enthusiasm and inspi- ration to the stage to ensure a memorable ceremony. Joseph, a former Waterstones Children’s Laureate, has long been a champion of libraries and highlights the important link between the awards and the library profession, saying: “The Carnegies holds a special place in the hearts of writers and illustrators because it’s judged by librarians… A book isn’t finished until it is placed into the hands of a child. And librarians do that. They’re on the front line putting the right book into the right child’s hands at the right time.” The Cambridge Theatre not only provides a fantastic Matilda
The Musical themed backdrop, it also allows more children and young people than ever to attend the ceremony in person. Last year hundreds of Shadowing Group members took part in the live event, while thousands more were able to follow the ceremony online.
“We had an absolutely wonderful time, both inside and outside
the theatre. The Matilda The Musical set lent the proceed- ings a real sense of occasion, and there was much excitement at the appearance of Mrs Phelps and Manjeet Mann. What an unforgettable way to end our Carnegie Shadowing Book Club.” – Shadowing Group Leader
Shadowing Groups hoping to attend this year’s ceremony can register their interest now at
https://tinyurl.com/CarnegiesCeremony.
Spotlight on Sponsors The 2025 Carnegie Awards are supported by three key spon- sors: Scholastic, the official book supplier; ALCS; and Sora, the new official digital partner. Named one of TIME’s Best Inventions, the Sora student reading app will provide free ac- cess to all available shortlisted digital books for shadowing groups, enhancing inclusivity and fostering a love of reading among young people. Nick Forster, Regional Manager, EMEA, Global Libraries & Education, OverDrive, says: “We are so excited to amplify our support of these prestigious awards as the new digital sponsor. All around the globe, librarians and teachers are using Sora to make access to digital books easier than ever. By offering free access to the Carnegie shortlists, we hope to inspire young
6 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Joseph Coelho at the Carnegie Medals ceremony, Cambridge Theatre, London.
readers, celebrate outstanding literature, and ensure that every student has the opportunity to connect with these incredible stories, no matter where they are.” To find out how your Shadowing Group can access short- listed titles for free through Sora visit https://company.overdrive. com/carnegies.
Longlist 2025
There are 19 longlisted titles for this year’s Carnegies Medal for Writing and 16 titles on the Carnegies Medal for Illustration longlist.
Carnegies Medal for Illustration Longlist – Aaron Becker,The
Last Zookeeper (Walker); Wen Hsu Chen, The invisible Story (Lantana); Lauren Child, Grey (Walker); Giang Hoang, Flower Block (Puffin); Mariajo Illustrajo, I Love Books (Quarto); Oliver Jeffers, The Dictionary (Walker); Olivia Lomenech Gill, Clever Crow (Walker); Thea Lu, Dive, Dive into the Night Sea (Walker); Juan Palomino,Letters in Charcoal (Lantana); Theo Parish, Homebody (MacMillan); Tom Percival, The Bridges (Simon & Schuster); Kate Rolfe, Wolf and Bear (Two Hoots); Sydney Smith, Do you Remember? (Rocket Bird Books); Yu Rong, Flying High (UCLan Publishing); Yuval Zommer, The Wild (Oxford University Press) Carnegies Medals for Writing Longlist – Sylvia Bishop, On Silver Tides (Andersen Press); Holly Bourne, You Could Be So Pretty (Usborne); Alistair Chisholm, I Am Wolf (Nosy Crow), Brian Conaghan, Treacle Town (Andersen Press); Marie Louise Fitzpatrick, Sisters of the Moon (Faber & Faber); Clare Furniss, The Things We Leave Behind (Simon & Schuster); Matt Goodfellow, The Final Year (Otter-Barry Books); Fran Hardinge, Island of Whispers (Two Hoots); Danielle Jawando, If My Words Had Wings (Simon &Schuster); Nathanael Lessore,King of Nothing (Bonnier Books); Kelly McCaughrain, Little Bang (Walker); Margaret McDonald, Glasgow Boys (Faber & Faber); C.G Moore, Trigger (Little Island books); Blessing Musariri, All That It Ever Meant (Zephyr); Luke Palmer, Play (Firefly Press); Lesley Parr, Fallout (Bloomsbury Children’s Books); Tom Percival, The Wrong Shoes (Simon & Schuster); John Schu, Louder Than Hunger (Walker); Jenny Valentine, Us in the Before and After (Simon & Schuster). To find out more about the awards and how to take part in the Carnegies Shadowing scheme visit Visit
www.carnegies.co.uk.
Spring 2025
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