Tuesday 10 March 2026: The Carnegies, the UK’s longest running and best-loved book awards for children and young people, run by the UK’s library association, CILIP, announced their 2026 shortlists at the London Book Fair this afternoon.

Identity, belonging, relationships, and the meaning of home have emerged as themes throughout both Medal shortlists, with creative storytelling ranging from the deeply personal to the historic and mythical.
Exciting innovation appears across both shortlists, with the Medal for Writing featuring subversive storytelling, reimagined folklore, and inventive verse and chronology, whilst the Medal for Illustration showcases a range of artistic styles from typography to kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting and folding.
Two graphic novels feature on the Medal for Illustration shortlist including an adaptation of Lord of the Flies illustrated by Aimée de Jongh, a classic text also recently adapted for the BBC by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne.
Kengo Kurimoto and Oboh Moses are shortlisted on the Medal for Illustration for their debut books, alongside five illustrators who are brand new to the Carnegies. Only Kate Rolfe returns for a consecutive time after being shortlisted in 2025.
Patrick Ness is shortlisted for a fifth time, fourteen years after his Medal for Writing win in 2012, with the chance of an unprecedented third win in the category.
Three more previous Medal for Writing winners are also shortlisted, including Jason Reynolds whowonin 2021, Katya Balen who won both the Medal for Writing & Shadowers Choice in 2022, and Tia Fisher, winner of the Shadowers’ Choice2024.
Writers and illustrators from around the UK including Birmingham, Dumfries, London, Norwich, and Suffolk havebeen shortlisted for both awards.
Walker leads the field for publisher nominations with 3 titles shortlisted across both Medals, closely followed by Andersen Press, Faber & Faber, and Lantana who each have two titles shortlisted.

The Carnegies celebrate outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people. They are unique in being judged by librarians, with the Shadowers’ Choice Medals voted for by thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and around the world, who shadow the judging process and choose their own winners.

16 books have been shortlisted in total, with eight in each category for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration; whittled down from 37 longlisted titles by the judging panel, which includes 14 children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group. The awards aim to spark a lifelong passion for reading by connecting more children with books that will change lives.

The 2026 Carnegie Medal for Writing shortlist is (alphabetical by author surname):

Ghostlines by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher (Hot Key Books)
Popcorn by Rob Harrell (Piccadilly Press)
The Boy I Love by William Hussey (Andersen Press)
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Tim Miller (Walker)
Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (Faber & Faber)
Birdie by J. P. Rose (Andersen Press)

The 2026 Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist is (alphabetical by illustrator surname):

The Playdate by Clara Dackenberg, written by Uje Brandelius, translated by Nichola Smalley (Lantana)
The Endless Sea by Linh Dao, written by Chi Thai (Walker)
Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel illustrated & adapted by Aimée de Jongh, written by William Golding (Faber & Faber)
The Sleeper Train by Baljinder Kaur, written by Mick Jackson (Walker)
Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto (Pushkin Children’s Books)
Freedom Braids by Oboh Moses, written by Monique Duncan (Lantana)
The Paper Bridge by Seng Soun Ratanavanh, written by Joelle Veyrenc, translated by Katy Lockwood-Holmes (Floris Books)
Wiggling Words by Kate Rolfe (Two Hoots)

Stella Hine, Chair of Judges for The Carnegies 2026, said:

“The 2026 judges have worked tirelessly to curate two outstanding shortlists. The lists meet young readers where they are, asking searching questions about identity, belonging, community and how we respond as life changes around us. These shortlists offer a wide scope of everyday life including friendship, wellbeing, courage, consent, respectful relationships, and empathy in the face of prejudice. Innovation in form is particularly exciting with inventive verse and chronology, subversive storytelling and reimagined folklore, alongside more traditional narratives. Together, these books reflect our world and empower young people to live and act with all their being and with hope. Huge congratulations to every shortlisted author and illustrator. Your works will impact generations to come, starting with our shadowing groups who have the joy of exploring these books deeply over the next few months as do we, the judges.”

THE SHORTLISTS IN MORE DETAIL

Patrick Ness is in the running for an unprecedented third win for the Medal for Writing, 14 years after winning with A Monster Calls in 2012. His shortlisted title, Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, is a ‘laugh out loud funny’ illustrated tale that is ‘completely absurd but so clever’ in the way it ‘subverts’ norms and narrative voice, and tells a unique story of anxiety, depression and friendship whilst ‘advocating uniqueness and individuality’. Rob Harrell has also explored mental health in his illustrated young fiction novel, Popcorn. Told through the eyes of an anxious young boy on school photo day, Harrell offers a ‘window into what someone with anxiety lives with’ written with empathy, hope and humour.

Mental health is also explored in Kengo Kurimoto’s Medal for Illustration shortlisted book, Wildful, one of two graphic novels on the shortlist. Judges loved the ‘filmic quality’ Kurimoto has brought to his story of a young girl discovering the joy and magic of a hidden woodland near home, as she processes the grief of losing her grandmother. The second graphic novel on the shortlist is Lord of the Flies, adapted and illustrated by Aimée de Jongh. The judges said reading this book is an ‘uncomfortable experience but one you don’t want to let go’, praising de Jongh for her ‘extremely strong and impactful’ retelling of a much-loved classic.

On the Medal for Writing shortlist, debut author Beth O’Brien, was inspired by Red Riding Hood to write her feminist reimagining, Wolf Siren. In this ‘rich and layered’ story, O’Brien uses ‘beautiful and lyrical’ language to transport readers to a small village and magical woodland filled with wolves and secrets. The connection between a small community and nature is also particularly strong in Ghostlines, written by 2022 Medal for Writing and Shadower’s Choice winner, Katya Balen. Set on a small island home to thousands of puffins and very few people, this is a ‘compelling’ story about what home means to different people. Home is also explored in The Playdate, illustrated by Clara Duckenberg. On the surface, this is a story about a young girl excited to visit her friend for a playdate, but Duckenberg’s illustrations reveal a ‘multi-layered’ secondary story that depicts a hardworking mother cleaning the friend’s home, whilst the children are innocently unaware of the social divide.

Connection through journeys emerges as a theme in the Medal for Illustration shortlist this year. The journey to reach a neighbo...

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