Riddell, Peet and Rosoff make Carnegie and Kate Greenaway shortlists

Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell is in the running to win a record-breaking fourth CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal after being shortlisted for this year’s prize, while Mal Peet’s final novel has been shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal (see full shortlists below).

Riddell is shortlisted for A Great Big Cuddle, written by Michael Rosen, while Peet is posthumously shortlisted for Beck, his YA novel co-written with Meg Rosoff (both Walker Books). The shortlists for both prizes were announced this evening (Thursday 16th March) at a celebratory event at Amnesty International in London.

Peet and Rosoff are joined on the Carnegie shortlist by former Carnegie Medal winners Frank Cottrell Boyce, nominated for Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth (Pan Macmillan), and Philip Reeve, nominated for Railhead (Oxford University Press). Previously shortlisted author Ruta Sepetys has also been nominated for Salt to the Sea (Puffin).

Two debut authors are on the Carnegie list: Lauren Wolk, shortlisted for Wolf Hollow (Corgi), and Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, shortlisted for The Smell of Other People’s Houses (Faber & Faber). The list is rounded out by: The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Orion Children’s Books) and The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard (Old Barn Books).

Former Kate Greenaway Medal winners Emily Gravett, William Grill and Jim Kay join Riddell on this year’s shortlist. Gravett is shortlisted for TIDY (Two Hoots), while Grill is shortlisted for The Wolves of Currumpaw (Flying Eye Books) and Kay is shortlisted for the illustrated edition of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Bloomsbury).

Two Hoots has another title on the shortlist, There is a Tribe of Kids by Lane Smith, while Flying Eye Books has two more: Francesca Sanna’s The Journey and Dieter Braun’s Wild Animals of the North. The latter was originally published in German and is the first ever translated title to make the Kate Greenaway shortlist following the Medals opening up to translated works in English in 2015. The final title on the Kate Greenaway shortlist is The Marvels by Brian Selznick (Scholastic), which was also longlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

Tricia Adams, chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals judging panel for 2017, said: “Both of these shortlists celebrate the wonderful talent on offer. Questions of identity, friendship and responsibility, both to others and to the natural world, are key themes this year. It is also hugely heartening to see our shortlisted writers and illustrators tackling potentially difficult and big ideas whilst introducing them to younger readers in a wide range of page-turning yet different ways.”

Kate Arnold, president of CILIP, added: “From stories set in futuristic fantasy worlds to the Second World War, from modern day refugee camps in Australia to Depression-era America, both shortlists celebrate the huge imagination of some of the finest storytellers and artists today.”

This year is the 80th anniversary of the Carnegie Medal and the 60th anniversary of the Kate Greenaway Medal. The winners of both prizes will be announced on Monday 19th June at a ceremony at RIBA in central London. At the ceremony, one title from each shortlist will also be named the recipient of the Amnesty CILIP Honour, awarded to books that most distinctively illuminate, uphold or celebrate freedoms.

This year’s Carnegie longlist was criticised for not featuring any BAME writers. Earlier this month, CILIP announced an independent review of the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals in order to identify how diversity, equality and inclusion can "best be championed and embedded into its work".

Meg Rosoff, Emily Gravett and William Grill celebrated being shortlisted for 2017 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals at Amnesty International's London headquarters on 16th March. Credit: Rolf Marriott

The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017 shortlist
Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Pan Macmillan)
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Orion Children’s Books)
The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber & Faber)
The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard (Old Barn Books)
Railhead by Philip Reeve (Oxford University Press)
Beck by Mal Peet with Meg Rosoff (Walker Books)
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (Puffin)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Corgi)
 
The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2017 shortlist:
Wild Animals of the North illustrated and written by Dieter Braun (Flying Eye Books)
TIDY illustrated and written by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots)
The Wolves of Currumpaw illustrated and written by William Grill (Flying Eye Books)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone illustrated by Jim Kay, written by J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury)
A Great Big Cuddle illustrated by Chris Riddell and written by Michael Rosen (Walker Books)
The Journey illustrated and written by Francesca Sanna (Flying Eye Books)
The Marvels illustrated and written by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
There is a Tribe of Kids illustrated and written by Lane Smith (Two Hoots)