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Judged by librarians, the 2026 Carnegies celebrate outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people in two categories: the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. This year’s shortlists were announced on Tuesday 10th March.

The Medal for Illustration shorlist features six picturebooks and two graphic novels. The theme of connection through journeys features strongly in this list, including a journey to a nearby town in The Paper Bridge, and a journey through memories in The Sleeper Train. Two debut illustrators are also highlighted in this list: Kengo Kurimoto for Wildful and Oboh Moses for Freedom Braids.

The Medal for Writing shortlist includes BooksForTopics favourites J. P. Rose’s Birdie and Katya Balen’s Ghostlines, which both feature in our Year Group Recommended Reads. Teen relationships are the focus for two of the other nominations in this category: Jason Reynolds’s Twenty-Four Seconds from Now and Tia Fisher’s Not Going to Plan.

You can check out the full shortlist for the 2026 Carnegie Awards below.

Established in 1981, the FCBG Children’s Book Award is the only national children’s literature award voted for solely by children from start to finish. Books are shortlisted in a final “Top Ten” which is divided into three categories: Books for Younger Children, Books for Younger Readers and Books for Older Readers. We are delighted to see so many BooksForTopics favourite authors, illustrators, titles and characters featured in this year’s shortlist.

Among the selections for Younger Children is Michelle Harrison and David Tazzyman’s There’s a Shark in My Pants!, which featured in our recommendations for summer holiday reading. BooksForTopics favourites Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie are also shortlisted with their new collaboration, Gozzle.

Some of our favourite characters star in the selections for Younger Readers, including Murray and Bun in Murray the Pirate, and Pablo and Splash in Roman Holiday. Chante Timothy’s Supa Nova, which is highlighted in our Year Group Recommended Reads, completes the Younger Readers choices.

For Older Readers, the list includes Hide and Seek, from Christopher Edge’s Fear Files horror series, and Fidan Meikle’s My Name is Samim, both of which have featured in our Books of the Month selections.

Online voting will open on Monday, 23rd March. You can see the full shortlist for this award below, and you can find out more on the FCBG website.

Established in 2024 to recognise the best new inclusive books, these awards fit into Inclusive Books for Children‘s wider aim to make mainstream books inclusive, and to bring inclusive books into the mainstream. We’re thrilled to see some of our favourite titles, authors and characters among the 13 books shortlisted for the 2026 awards.

Zeki is a popular character among younger readers, and we were delighted to see him featured among the shortlisted titles in the Baby and Toddler Books category with Zeki Goes to the Market. Alex Strick’s accessible, touch-and-feel title Let’s Play was the winner in this category.

The Picture Books shortlist included BooksForTopics favourite Cloud Boy by Greg Stobbs, an empathy-building story of the challenges faced by neurodivergent children which has featured on our Recommended Reads booklists. The category winner was The Beautiful Layers of Me, a beautifully illustrated celebration of individuality and heritage by Sophia Payne.

The Children’s Fiction category shortlist includes three titles from our Year Group Recommended Reads booklists: laugh-out-loud animal adventure Pia’s Pet Club: Puppy Problem, fun friendship story The Misadventures of Mina Mahmood: School Trip, and category winner Supa Nova, a science-inspired graphic novel.

Check out the full shortlist for the 2026 awards below!