Mar
The Carnegies 2026 Shortlists Announced
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.
Judged by librarians, these annual awards celebrate outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people.
Alongside the main award, the Shadowers’ Choice Medals are 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.
2026 Carnegie Shortlists
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.
Notably, Identity, belonging, relationships, and the meaning of home have emerged as themes in the 2026 Carnegies throughout both Medal shortlists, with creative storytelling ranging from the deeply personal to the historic and mythical.
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.
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, who won in 2021, Katya Balen, who won both the Medal for Writing & Shadowers Choice in 2022, and Tia Fisher, winner of the Shadowers’ Choice 2024.
Meanwhile, the Carnegie Medal for Illustration shortlist showcases a range of artistic styles from typography to kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting and folding.
The Chair of Judges for 2026, Stella Hine, said:
“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…Together, these books reflect our world and empower young people to live and act with all their being and with hope.”
The shortlisted books are to be viewed and purchased via our 2026 Carnegies Shortlist booklist.
The shortlist for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2026:
- 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 shortlist for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2026:
- 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)
The winners will be announced and celebrated on Tuesday 23 June at a live and streamed ceremony at the Cambridge Theatre, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s multi-award-winning Matilda The Musical. The ceremony will be hosted by multi-award-winning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner, who previously won the Medal for Illustration in 2009 and has been shortlisted a further six times.
The winners will each receive a specially commissioned medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize. The winners of the Shadowers’ Choice Medals – voted for and awarded by children and young people – will also be presented at the ceremony. They will receive a medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.
The 2026 Carnegie shortlists can be found here.
For further information on the Carnegie Medals, please visit: carnegies.co.uk.
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Follow the major children’s Book Awards all year round with our downloadable Children’s Book Award Calendar and online shortlists, updated monthly. We also have a book list featuring all the winning books from the past year!
Where next?
> Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub.
> Browse our Topic Booklists.
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> View our Year Group booklists