The longlists for the 2024 Yoto Carnegies
The longlists for the 2024 Yoto Carnegies, the UK’s longest running book awards for children and young people, have been announced.
From 129 nominations, a total of 36 books have made the longlists; 19 for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, and 18 for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration, formerly the Kate Greenaway Medal. The 12 judges are children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group.
Tyger by SF Said and illustrated by Dave McKean (David Fickling Books) is on both prize longlists. Author and illustrator were previously 
nominated together for Phoenix in 2013.
There are four verse novels on the longlist for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing. Waterstones Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho is on the list for The Boy Lost in the Maze. The other three are by New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander and debut authors, Cathy Faulkner and Tia Fisher. Marcus Sedgwick has been longlisted posthumously for Ravencave, the follow up to Wrath, which was also longlisted in 2023.
Previous winners and shortlisted illustrators feature on the Yoto Medal for Illustration longlist including Sydney Smith, Bob Graham, Jon Klassen and Catherine Rayner. Seven of the 18 books are published by Walker Books.
The 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing longlist is (alphabetical by author surname):
The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander (Andersen Press)
The Song Walker by Zillah Bethell (Usborne)
Away with Words by Sophie Cameron (Little Tiger)
The Little Match Girl Strikes Back by Emma Carroll, illustrated by Lauren Child (Simon & Schuster)
The Boy Lost in the Maze by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books)
Choose Love by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Petr Horáček (Graffeg)
Electric Life by Rachel Delahaye (Troika Books)
Until the Road Ends by Phil Earle (Andersen Press)
Digging for Victory by Cathy Faulkner (Firefly Press)
Crossing the Line by Tia Fisher (Bonnier Books UK)
Wild Song by Candy Gourlay (David Fickling Books)
Boy Like Me by Simon James Green (Scholastic)
Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press)
Steady for This by Nathanael Lessore (Bonnier Books UK)
The Swifts by Beth Lincoln, illustrated by Claire Powell (Penguin)
Dogs of the Deadland by Anthony McGowan, illustrated by Keith Robinson (Oneworld Publications)
Tyger by SF Said, illustrated by Dave McKean (David Fickling Books)
Ravencave by Marcus Sedgwick (Barrington Stoke)
Greenwild: The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The 2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration longlist is (alphabetical by illustrator surname):
The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker (Walker Books)
Wolves in Helicopters by Paddy Donnelly, written by Sarah Tagholm (Andersen Press)
April’s Garden by Catalina Echeverri, written by Isla McGuckin (Graffeg)
The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham (Walker Books)
Deep by Stephen Hogtun (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Lost by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Quarto)
Colours, Colours Everywhere by Sharon King-Chai, written by Julia Donaldson (Macmillan Children’s Books)
The Skull by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)
The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy (Walker Books)
Tyger by Dave McKean, written by SF Said (David Fickling Books)
To the Other Side by Erika Meza (Hachette Children’s Group)
The Midnight Panther by Poonam Mistry (Bonnier Books UK)
The Bowerbird by Catherine Rayner, written by Julia Donaldson (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Global by Giovanni Rigano, written by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin (Hachette Children’s Group)
The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage (Walker Books)
My Baba’s Garden by Sydney Smith, written by Jordan Scott (Walker Books)
The Boy Who Lost His Spark by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini, written by Maggie O’Farrell (Walker Books)
What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking by Aleksandra Zając, written by Tina Oziewicz (Pushkin Press)
Maura Farrelly, Chair of Judges for The Yoto Carnegies 2024, said, ‘Huge congratulations to all of our longlisted authors and illustrators in what has been a fantastic year for books for children and young people. It has been a joy and a privilege to chair an enthusiastic and dedicated panel of judges as we read, debated and considered the nominated titles before arriving at two exciting longlists. These are books that play with language and show how powerful words and illustrations can inspire imaginations and encourage empathy as well as helping young readers make sense of an increasingly confusing world and give them hope for a brighter future.’
The shortlists for the 2024 Yoto Carnegies will be announced at a panel event at London Book Fair beginning on Wednesday 13 March. The winners’ ceremony will be hosted live and streamed on Thursday 20 June.
The winners each receive 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. They will also receive a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.
Yoto, the innovative, screen-free audio platform for children, is the headline sponsor of the Awards. The Yoto Carnegies are also sponsored by ALCS. Scholastic are the official book supplier and First News are the official media partner.
