Nominations Announced For The 2025 Carnegie Medals

Nominations have been announced for the 2025 Carnegies, the UK’s longest-running and best-loved children’s book awards.

A total of 119 books have been nominated for the 2025 Medals. 64 books are in contention for the Carnegie Medal for Writing, which is awarded to a book written in English for children and young people that sparks an outstanding reading experience, and 55 books for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, which celebrates an outstanding reading experience through illustration. Island of Whispers by Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett, The Star Whale by Nicola Davies and Petr Horáček and 100 Tales from the Tokyo Ghost Cafe by Julian Sedgwick and Chie Kutsuwada have received nominations in both Medal categories.

Find the full lists below.

Carnegie Medal for Writing Nominated Titles 2025

Carnegie Medal for Illustration Nominated Titles 2025

The Carnegies are organised by CILIP, the UK’s library and information association, and are judged by librarians. CILIP also invited nominations for the 2025 Carnegies from its members, as well as external bodies: BookTrust, CLPE, Commonword, English & Media Centre, IBBY, National Literacy Trust, RNIB, The Reading Agency, and the CILIP School Libraries Group.

Each nominated book is read by every member of the 2025 judging panel – which includes 14 librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group (YLG) − who volunteer their time as judges.

From these nominations, the judging panel will decide the long and shortlists and finally, the 2025 Medal winners, based on the official criteria for the Medals for Writing and Illustration. The long and shortlists identify a range of outstanding books for children and young people of all ages and interests, celebrating world-class writing and illustration from new and established authors and illustrators.

2025 will also see the continuation of the Shadowers’ Choice Awards voted for by children and young people who take part in the Awards shadowing scheme – a reading for pleasure initiative that engages thousands of children and young people in schools and libraries in the UK and overseas through ‘shadowing’ reading groups. Young people read and engage with the shortlists critically and creatively, through group participation and digitally: posting online reviews, artworks, videos, and taking part in creative activities and online events. Taking on the role of judges, the groups will vote for their favourite books to receive the Shadowers’ Choice Award at the winners’ ceremony in June 2025.

Registration for shadowing groups is now open and group leaders can opt in to receive a free publicity pack when the shortlists are announced in March.

The Carnegies are sponsored by Scholastic as official book supplier and ALCS.

The longlists will be announced on Wednesday 12 February and the shortlists on Tuesday 11 March.