The Yoto Carnegie Medals 2023

By Jenni Harrison | Awards, Event, Carnegie Medals

Find out about the Carnegie Medals, which books are shortlisted for 2023 & how you can get involved

What are the Carnegie Medals?

The Carnegie Medals recognise outstanding reading experiences. They are awarded once a year to a new English-language book and are judged solely by librarians. The Carnegie Medal was established in 1936 by the British Library Association and was named after Andrew Carnegie, an American philanthropist who was born in Scotland. He founded more than 2,800 libraries in the English-speaking world. The first award went to Arthur Ransome for ‘Pigeon Post’.

There are two categories – the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, and the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration (formerly known as the Kate Greenaway Medal).

Previous winners include:

For writing: C.S. Lewis, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman, Sally Gardner and last year’s winner Katya Balen for her novel ‘October, October’.

For illustration: Quentin Blake, Janet Ahlberg, Chris Riddell, Lauren Child and last year’s winner Danica Novgorodoff for her illustrated edition of Jason Reynold’s ‘Long Way Down’.

Yoto Carnegie Shadowing Scheme

Created as a reading for pleasure initiative, the Shadowing Scheme engages children and young people in reading the books on the shortlists via reading groups in schools and libraries. Those who take part in the scheme can then vote for their favourite book to win the Shadowers’ Choice Awards, which are announced alongside the medal winners. Find out more about getting involved here.

2023 Shortlists

The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing

The Light In Everything – Katya Balen

When Shadows Fall – Sita Brahmachari

Medusa – Jessie Burton

The Eternal Return of Clara Hart – Louise Finch

Needle – Patrice Lawrence

I Must Betray You – Ruta Sepetys

The Blue Book of Nebo – Manon Steffan Ros

The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration

Rescuing Titanic – Flora Delargy

Alte Zachen: Old Things – Benjamin Phillips

The Worlds We Leave Behind – A.F. Harrold & Levi Pinfold

The Comet – Joe Todd-Stanton

The Visible Sounds – Yu Rong & Yin Jianling

Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear – Jeet Zdung

Winners

The winners will be announced on 21^st June 2023.

Get In Touch

Have you read any of the shortlisted books? Who do you think should win this year? Share your thoughts with us on social media, or write a book review and send it to us at [email protected] and you could feature on this blog!