Independent publishers dominate Yoto Carnegie longlists

The Yoto Carnegie longlists have been unveiled and are dominated by independent publishers such as Walker Books and Andersen Press.

A total of 31 books have been recognised, with 15 books selected for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing longlist, and 18 books for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration.

The lists include 25 books from 13 different independent publishers, including small presses Lantana, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Flying Eye Books, Child’s Play, Cicada Books, Otter-Barry Books, Little Island and Firefly Press and two books published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books longlisted in both medal categories – Medusa by Jessie Burton, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill, and The Worlds We Leave Behind, written by A F Harrold and illustrated by Levi Pinfold.

Pinfold is a previous winner of the Carnegie Medal for Illustration (formerly known as the Kate Greenaway award) for Black Dog (Templar Publishing) in 2013; Lomenech Gill was shortlisted in 2014 for Where My Wellies Take Me (Templar Publishing).

Also longlisted are Kiran Millwood Hargrave for Julia and the Shark, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Orion Children’s Books), which was shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year 2021 and the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature & Conservation 2022; Wrath by Marcus Sedgwick (Barrington Stoke); and, in the illustration longlist, Dadaji’s Paintbrush, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane and written by Rashmi Sirdeshpande (Andersen Press).

The longlists were chosen from 125 nominations, which includes 12 children’s and youth librarians from the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals’ (CILIP) Youth Libraries Group.

Janet Noble, chair of judges for the Yoto Carnegies 2023, said: “It is a great honour to be chairing the judging panel during another outstanding year for children’s publishing.  We were taken on amazing reading journeys  by haunting prose and powerful poetry and found delight  in the evocative worlds of stunning illustration, and were able to explore an incredible variety of themes including belonging, friendship and the climate crisis. I commend all the authors and illustrators on their wonderful work, which will bring young readers so much joy and hope in these challenging times.”

The shortlists for the 2023 Yoto Carnegies will be announced on Friday 17th March. The winners’ ceremony will be hosted live and streamed from the Barbican on Wednesday 21st June. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library, a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize. The winners of the Shadowers’ Choice Medals – voted for and awarded by the children and young people – will also be presented at the ceremony.

Yoto, the innovative, screen-free audio platform for children, is the headline sponsor of the awards. The Yoto Carnegies are sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and children’s publisher Scholastic as the official book supplier, with First News as the official media partner for 2023.

The 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing longlist 

• The Light in Everything by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• When Shadows Fall by Sita Brahmachari, illustrated by Natalie Sirett (Little Tiger)
• Medusa by Jessie Burton, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• The Blackthorn Branch by Elen Caldecott (Andersen Press)
• Running with Horses by Jason Cockcroft (Andersen Press)
• The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch (Little Island)
• The Worlds We Leave Behind by A F Harrold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• Green Rising by Lauren James (Walker Books)
• When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
• Needle by Patrice Lawrence (Barrington Stoke)
• Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston (Orion Children’s Books)
• Wrath by Marcus Sedgwick (Barrington Stoke)
• I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (Hodder Children’s Books)
• The Silver Chain by Jion Sheibani (Hot Key Books)
• The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros (Firefly Press)

The 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration longlist 

• John Agard’s Windrush Child illustrated by Sophie Bass, written by John Agard (Walker Books)
• Rescuing Titanic illustrated and written by Flora Delargy (Wide Eyed Editions)  
• Flooded illustrated and written by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Frances Lincoln)
• Journey to the Last River illustrated by Teddy Keen, written by The Unknown Adventurer (Frances Lincoln)
• Medusa illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill, written by Jessie Burton (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• The Fog Catcher’s Daughter illustrated by Alan Marks, written by Marianne McShane (Walker Books)
• Once Upon a Tune illustrated and written by James Mayhew (Otter-Barry Books)
• Dadaji’s Paintbrush illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane, written by Rashmi Sirdeshpande (Andersen Press)
• Alte Zachen: Old Things illustrated by Benjamin Phillips, written by Ziggy Hanaor (Circada Books)
• The Worlds We Leave Behind illustrated by Levi Pinfold, written by A F Harrold (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• The Visible Sounds illustrated by Yu Rong, written by Yin Jianling (UCLan Publishing)
• Choices illustrated and written by Roozeboos (Child’s Play)
• The Queen in the Cave illustrated and written by Júlia Sardà (Walker Studio)
• Saving the Butterfly illustrated by Gill Smith, written by Helen Cooper (Walker Books)
• The Comet illustrated and written by Joe Todd-Stanton (Flying Eye Books)
• The Queen on Our Corner illustrated by Nia Tudor, written by Lucy Christopher (Lantana)
• The Baker by the Sea illustrated and written by Paula White (Templar Books)
• Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear illustrated by Jeet Zdung, written by Trang Nguyen (Kingfisher)