The 2026 Carnegie Medal winners have been announced in front of an audience of over 600 young people during a live-streamed ceremony held at the Cambridge Theatre in the West
End, home of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s multi award-winning Matilda The Musical. The awards are the UK’s longest running book awards for children and young people, run by library and information association, CILIP.

In a shortlist dominated by established names, debut author Beth O’Brien won both the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Shadowers’ Choice Award for Writing for her feminist reimagining of Red Riding Hood, Wolf Siren (HarperCollins Children’s Books). Inspired by Beth’s own lived experience and passion to write a nuanced book that represented visual impairments, this story explores power and accessibility through ‘richly layered symbolism’.

Kate Rolfe is the winner of the Carnegie Medal for Illustration for Wiggling Words (Two Hoots), an exploration that offers insight into what reading is like for people with dyslexia. The ‘striking’ picture book is illustrated with an innovative use of typography and contrasting colours to illustrate the journey from chaos and confusion in an empowering celebration of creativity and the universal experience of learning to read.

The Carnegies celebrate achievement and outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people. They are unique in being judged by an expert panel of children’s librarians, including 14 from CILIP. Each year thousands of reading groups in schools and libraries across the UK and around the world also get involved in the awards, with young people ‘shadowing’ the judging process, debating and choosing their own winners from this year’s shortlist. The Carnegies work closely with the RNIB and Calibre Audio to make as many of the shortlisted books as possible available in alternative formats.

Commenting on why they chose Wolf Siren as their winner, Tabitha from shadowing group BFS Umbra called it ‘a thrilling tale and one of the few books that shows what it’s like to live with a disability’. Many were surprised by how much they enjoyed reading a fairytale retelling, with Joey from Coombe Critica saying it ‘showed me that often there is more to a story than you initially think.’ Other shadowers praised the themes of grief and injustice, with Connor from Ermysted’s Shadowing Group adding that the ‘powerful message of feminism, environmental connection, and the importance of changing the unfair authority, inspires readers to be honest about who they are and the choices that they make.’

The winner of the Carnegie Shadowers’ Choice Medal for Illustration is Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel illustrated and adapted by Aimée de Jongh, written by William Golding (Faber & Faber). Leinahtan from the College Francais Love Books shadowing group said it was ‘some of the most mind-blowing and jaw-dropping illustrations’ they had ever seen, with Keval from Willow Book Whisperers calling it ‘a true masterpiece’. Arshdeep from Sale High Readers praised the way ‘the illustrations add a new layer of depth and emotion to the story’ with many shadowers confirming that the graphic novel format helped them understand the story.

Stella Hine, Chair of Judges for The Carnegies 2026, said, ‘Wolf Siren is a wonderful fairy tale for our times where hope triumphs over despair and justice over apathy. Red is a thoroughly traditional and yet modern heroine whose journey includes timeless messages for all, young and old. The environmental messages are clear, the language is sublime, and the rich content covering many contemporary themes invites reflection. Wiggling Words is a joyous and deceptively simple insight into the world of a dyslexic reader. Using typography and their signature cyanotype technique, Kate Rolfe not only affords the dyslexic reader a voice but also invites the non-dyslexic reader into this unique world. We accompany the young protagonist on their journey from frustration to empowerment. Many congratulations to the 2026 Award winners in this National Year of Reading. I’d like to thank the judging panel who sacrifice much of their personal time and energy for the Awards. Thank you to all the shadowers around the country and overseas. Thank you to every teacher and librarian supporting young readers to explore these outstanding lists.’

Debut author Beth O’Brien wrote Wolf Siren, a captivating feminist reimagining of Red Riding Hood, from a desire to tell stories that spotlight the nuanced spectrum of sight inspired by her own lived experience of visual impairment. Blindness is often misrepresented as total sight loss, but in reality, 93% of blind and partially sighted people experience a spectrum of light, movement, and colour. This experience leads Beth to write lyrically, describing not what she sees but how she sees, inviting readers to uncover her world with all their senses. The Judges praised this storytelling, and her “richly layered symbolism” in writing a “strikingly relevant” reimagining exploring power, gender stereotypes and disability.

Read the Books for Keeps interview with Carnegie Medal for Writing winner Beth O’Brien.

Carnegie Medal for Writing winner, Beth O’Brien, said, ‘I am beyond stunned and delighted that Wolf Siren has won the Carnegie Medal for Writing. It is beyond the wildest hopes I ever had for this story! Wolf Siren speaks to so many things that I care about, from visual impairment representation and period stigma to the abuse of power and weaponised belief systems. And on a personal level it is about family, sisterhood, and friendship in the face of all this. It’s an honour to know this resonated with the judges and I am so grateful that this whole Carnegie journey has allowed Wolf Siren to find its way into the hands (or ears!) of young readers.’

Kate Rolfe was first shortlisted for the Medal for Illustration in 2025 for her debut book, Wolf and Bear, and has now won the award with her ‘deeply personal’ picture book, Wiggling Words, which illustrates her experience with dyslexia. Dyslexia affects around one in ten adults in the UK and 900,000 school children. Wiggling Words is a celebration of her neurodiversity. The judges praised the ‘transformative journey from confusion to confidence’ as readers gain insight into what reading can be like for someone with dyslexia; mountains of words and walls of letters. Importantly, it doesn’t end how you’d expect, with dyslexia something to ‘overcome’.

Carnegie Medal for Illustration winner, Kate Rolfe, said, ‘I’m incredibly grateful to the Carnegie judges, librarians and shadowing groups for championing Wiggling Words. Receiving this award during the National Year of Reading feels so perfect! I absolutely LOVE books, but reading isn’t easy for me. Wiggling Words was inspired by my experience as a dyslexic reader, but it’s a book for every child learning to read. It celebrates creative problem-solving and playful ways into stories. The stories that captivate us when we’re young shape our values, shared humanity and the world we choose to build. We need diverse stories from every nation and background, disabled, neurodivergent, LGBTQ+ characters with experiences completely different from our own. In a world increasingly mired in fear, division and dehumanisation, diverse stories that build connection matter more than ever. If stories shape our future, accessibility and representation decides who has a voice in imagining that future – and we need it to include everyone.’

Read the new Books for Keeps interview with Kate Rolfe.

The winners of the Carnegie Medals for Writing and Illustration each received a specially commissioned 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 – also received a medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice, generously provided by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education for the illustration winner and by CILIP for the writing winner.

This year’s shortlists in full are:

The 2026 Carnegie Medal for Writing (alphabetical by author surname):

Ghostlines by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher (Bonnier Books UK)

Popcorn by Rob Harrell (Bonnier Books UK)

The Boy I Love by William Hussey (Andersen Press)

Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Tim Miller (Walker Books)

Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien (HarperCollins Publishers)

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (Faber & Faber)

Birdie by J. P. Rose (Andersen Press)

The 2026 Carnegie Medal for Illustration (alphabetical by illustrator surname):

The Playdate by Clara Dackenberg, written by Uje Brandelius, translated by Nichola Smalley (Lantana)

The Endless Sea by Linh Dao, written by Chi Thai (Walker Books)

Lord of the Flies: The Graphic Novel illustrated & adapted by Aimée de Jongh, written by Golding William (Faber & Faber)

The Sleeper Train by Baljinder Kaur, written by Mick Jackson (Walker Books)

Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto (Pushkin Children’s Books)

Freedom Braids by Oboh Moses, written by Monique Duncan (Lantana)

The Paper Bridge by Seng Soun Ratanavanh, written by Joelle Veyrenc, translated by Katy Lockwood-Holmes (Floris Books)

Wiggling Words by Kate Rolfe (Macmillan)