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Manon Steffan Ros and Jeet Zdung win Yoto Carnegie Medals
The winners of the Yoto Carnegie Medals for children and young people have been unveiled, with the award for Writing going to a work in translation for the first time.
Originally published in Welsh, The Blue Book of Nebo (Firefly Press), written and also translated by Manon Steffan Ros, took home the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing at a ceremony held at the Barbican on Wednesday 21st June.
Told through the dual narrative of a mother and son in post-apocalyptic Nebo, the “compelling, conceivable” story explores Welsh identity and culture. The original Welsh publication, Llyfr Glas Nebo, won multiple awards including the 2019 Wales Book of the Year.
Ros said: “I used to see the word Carnegie on the covers of my favourite books as a child, and the fact that The Blue Book of Nebo now has that honour bestowed upon it means more than I can say – and to be the first book in translation to win the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing is a source of great delight. One of the greatest privileges of my life has been the fact that I was raised through the medium of the Welsh language, and having access to two languages has brought me so much joy and opportunity.
“There’s a huge, lively, thriving Welsh language cultural scene that I’m honoured to be a part of. Each language offers a unique and enriching perspective on the world, and so literature in translation has the potential to enhance our lives greatly. Your favourite book might not yet be translated into a language that you understand."
Jeet Zdung won the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration for Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear (Kingfisher, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Books), marking the second consecutive year that a graphic novel has clinched the prize.
Written and inspired by the real life of Vietnamese wildlife conservationist Dr Trang Nguyen, the “beautiful” manga-inspired illustrations – including scenic watercolours and detailed, pencil-sketched journal entries – work together to offer “something new to discover on each re-reading” and inspire and educate young wildlife activists.
Zdung said: “When I was a child, I always wished that I could create my own cartoon movies. The process of creating the book Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear was a journey to satisfy the child’s longing inside of me – to create an immersive movie on paper using influences of comics and manga. Together with Trang Nguyen, we hope these books will contribute to the conservation of wildlife by sharing with the readers what we know, what we love and care about.
"For me, this is a long and enduring journey. Winning the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a great honour. We hope that the impact of the prize will be felt widely and draw attention to the plight of the Sun Bears and other wildlife."
The Yoto Carnegies celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration and are judged by a panel of children’s and youth librarians, including 12 librarians from CILIP, the library and information association’s Youth Libraries Group.
Selected from shortlists of seven and six titles respectively, both winners were praised by the judges for providing an “immersive” reading experience, addressing questions about how we live now and how this might affect the future – from the domestic, day-to-day perspective in The Blue Book of Nebo, to environmental and animal protection in Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear.
Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and around the world get involved in the awards, with children and young people “shadowing” the judging process, debating and choosing their own winners. They have voted for their favourites from this year’s shortlist and have chosen I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (Hodder Children’s Books) for the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Writing, and The Comet by Joe Todd-Stanton (Flying Eye Books) for the Yoto Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration.
Sepetys previously won the Carnegie Medal for Writing in 2017 for Salt to the Sea and was shortlisted in 2021 for The Fountains of Silence (Penguin). The awards ceremony, which was live-streamed, was hosted by former Children’s Laureate Lauren Child CBE, who won the Carnegie Medal for Illustration – then known as the Kate Greenaway Medal – in 2000 for her first Charlie and Lola book, I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato (Orchard Books).
Janet Noble, chair of judges for The Yoto Carnegies 2023, said: “From an incredibly strong shortlist, our panel of librarian judges have debated long and hard to choose our two worthy winners of the Yoto Carnegie Medals 2023. In The Blue Book of Nebo, the world-building and distinct voices of the two main characters, the son and his mother, are expertly realised and the reader is compelled to question their own relationship with the modern world.
“Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear is a beautiful story, elegantly told, which brings together a global view of conservation and an empowering true story of an inspiring female environmentalist, told through dazzling manga art and watercolours.
"Jeet has crafted every illustration to immerse the reader, just as Manon draws the reader in completely with her vivid, deliberate prose. Thanks to the young readers far and wide who have engaged with our shortlists and voted for their own deserving Shadowers’ Choice Medal recipients. Huge congratulations to all four of our Yoto Carnegie medal winners for this year, who demonstrate the best of children’s writing and illustration in its myriad of forms.”
The winners each receive £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice, a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize and a newly designed golden medal. For the first time, this year the Shadowers’ Choice winners were also presented with a golden medal.
Ros is making her donation to her local library, Tywyn Library in Gwynedd, where she wrote a few of her books when she didn’t have the means to get internet at home. Dr Trang Nguyen and her organisation WildAct have set up libraries for children in localities near Vietnamese national parks to heighten their reading skills and knowledge of conservation; Zdung’s donation will be supporting this effort.
