The longlists for the Yoto Carnegie Medal 2023 have been announced!

Past double-winner, Katya Balen has made the cut for writing with her glowing story of a blended family learning to trust again, The Light in Everything. The late Marcus Sedgwick is also on the longlist with his thrilling, thought-provoking, timely novella about our connections to Earth, Wrath.   

The illustration longlist includes Levi Pinfold for his dark and brooding depictions of the fairytale realm in The Worlds We Leave Behind (also appearing on the 2023 longlist for writing), and Ruchi Mhasane for her warm and sensitive illustrations in Dadaji's Paintbrush.

The full longlists can be found below:

The 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing


The Light in Everything by Katya Balen

When Shadows Fall by  Sita Brahmachari 

Medusa by Jessie Burton

The Blackthorn Branch by Elen Caldecott

Running With Horses  by Jason Cockcroft

The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch

The Worlds We Leave Behind by A. F. Harrold

Green Rising by Lauren James

When Our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando

Needle by Patrice Lawrence

Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave 

Wrath by Marcus Sedgwick

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

The Silver Chain by Jion Sheibani 

The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros

The 2023 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration (formerly known as the Kate Greenaway Award)

John Agard's Windrush Child illustrated by Sophie Bass

Rescuing Titanic illustrated by Flora Delargy

Flooded illustrated by Mariajo Ilustrajo

Journey to the Last River illustrated by Teddy Keen

Medusa illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill 

The Fog Catcher's Daughter illustrated by Alan Marks

Once Upon a Tune illustrated by James Mayhew

Dadaji's Paintbrush illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane

Alte Zachen: Old Things illustrated by Benjamin Phillips

The Worlds We Leave Behind illustrated by Levi Pinfold

Choices illustrated by Roozeboos

The Queen in the Cave illustrated by Julia Sarda

Saving The Butterfly illustrated by Gill Smith

The Comet illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton

The Queen on our Corner illustrated by Nia Tudor

The Baker by the Sea illustrated by Paula White

The Visible Sounds illustrated by Yu Rong

Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear illustrated by Jeet Zdung

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 17 March. The winners’ ceremony will be hosted live and streamed from The Barbican on Wednesday 21 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.

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