The 2025 shortlists for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration were announced today at the London Book Fair.

The Carnegies are the UK’s longest running and most prestigious book awards for children and young people and celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration. Judged by a panel of children’s and youth librarians from across the UK, this year’s longlist of 35 titles has been whittled down to 16 – eight titles for each of the two award categories.

Twenty-five years since winning the Carnegie Medal for Illustration for her first Charlie and Lola book, Lauren Child is shortlisted for her picture book Grey, written by Laura Dockrill, in a shortlist that features a bold range of artistic styles, from traditional Chinese paper-cutting to earthy watercolours.

On the shortlist for the Carnegie Medal for Writing, five of the eight titles explore the experiences of boys and teenagers growing up in disenfranchised communities and navigating what it means to to be a young man today.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Ros Harding, Chair of Judges, said, ‘On behalf of the judging panel, I would like to offer a huge congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators. The two lists highlight the diversity and high quality within publishing for children and young people in the UK. Many of the titles on the writing shortlist deal with themes around masculinity and boys finding their place in society, and the shortlisted authors successfully tackle these big ideas through believable and relatable characters, whilst avoiding lecturing young people. The concept of stories plays an important part in the shortlisted books across both lists, whether this is about the joy that can be found through discovering books or about the stories we tell ourselves and others to make sense of the world around us. It is wonderful to see such an inclusive range of cultures, experiences, voices and illustrative styles feature in the shortlisted books and as a judging panel, we are so excited to be a part of introducing these incredible books to the shadowing groups.’

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators!

 

Carnegie Medal for Writing 2025

Treacle Town by Brian Conaghan (Andersen Press)

The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)

The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (Otter-Barry Books)

King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books)

Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain (Walker Books)

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald (Faber & Faber)

All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri (Zephyr)

Play by Luke Palmer (Firefly Press)

 

Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2025

The Invisible Story illustrated by Wen Hsu Chen, written by Jaime Gamboa, translated by Daniel Hahn (Lantana)

Grey illustrated by Lauren Child, written by Laura Dockrill (Walker Books)

I Love Books by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)

Clever Crow illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill, written by Chris Butterworth (Walker Books)

Letters in Charcoal illustrated by Juan Palomino, written by Irene Vasco, translated by Lawrence Schimel (Lantana)

Homebody by Theo Parish (Macmillan)

Wolf and Bear by Kate Rolfe (Two Hoots)

Flying High illustrated by Yu Rong, written by Cao Wenxuan, translated by Simone-Davina Monnelly and Jake Hope (UCLan Publishing)

Carnegies Shadowing Scheme

Inspired by this year’s shortlists? There’s still time to get involved with this year’s Shadowing Scheme. Across the country, groups of young people will ‘shadow’ the judging process: reading, discussing and reviewing the shortlisted titles before choosing their winners for the Shadowers’ Choice Medals. The Shadowing Scheme is supported by a range of online resources, including a week-long programme of free author events on the Scholastic Schools Live platform starting on Monday 28th April.

The winners of the 2025 Carnegie Medals and Shadowers’ Choice Medals will be announced at a live and streamed ceremony in London on Thursday 19th June, hosted by Joseph Coelho, winner of the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2024.