Carnegie Medal longlists

The Carnegies are managed by CILIP, the library and information association, and celebrate outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people.  They are unique in being judged by librarians, with the Shadowers’ Choice Medal voted for by children and young people. The awards aim to spark a lifelong passion for reading by connecting more children with books that will change lives. To celebrate this mission and make the shadowing scheme more accessible, 2026 marks the piloting of a new age-inclusive longlist shadowing offer that will run alongside the established shortlist shadowing scheme. This development is designed to open Carnegie shadowing to all ages and provide more choice to groups taking part. Source

The longlists were chosen from 127 nominations by the Judging Panel which includes 14 children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group.

You can see a full list of previous Illustration Winners from 1956 and Writing Winners from 1936. Notice our Australian names - Bob Graham (Jethro Byrde Fairy Child); Freya Blackwood (Harry and Hopper); Gregory Rogers (Way Home); and Ivan Southall (Josh). I was also excited to see a few of my own childhood favourites as past winners - The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge; The Borrowers by Mary Norton; along with some books I read during my early years as a Teacher Librarian such as Pack of Lies by Geraldine McCaughrean; Wolf by Gillian Cross; Skellig by David Almond; The Other side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo; Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech; Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce; and very recently I discovered The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros.

I am always pleased to see these lists and to cheer for books I have read and enjoyed and also to have titles to add to my enormous 'to read' list.

I have read these:

The Endless Sea

Don't trust Fish

High Ground

Birdie

Ghostlines

Wolf Siren

The winners will be announced on 23 June 2026. 

Here are images of the two sets of longlists - Illustration and Writing:

The Awards mission is: to champion librarians to inspire and empower the next generation to create a better world through books and reading.

We do this by:

• Celebrating outstanding writing and illustration for children and young people.
• Recognising a broad range of perspectives, experiences and voices.
• Championing the power of librarians to connect children and young people with outstanding books that represent their identities and help them shape a better world.
• Encouraging authors, illustrators and publishers to create more books for children and young people that reflect all identities and promote diversity.
• Promoting a readership and market that values diversity, representation and inclusion in books for books for children and young people.
• Challenging children and young people with a diversity of ideas and perspectives to promote empathy and understanding.