Longlists revealed for Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals
The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals – the prestigious prizes awarded annually by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) for, respectively, the year’s best children’s book and best children’s book illustration – have unveiled their 2015 longlists.
Each list contains 20 titles, which will be whittled down further with the announcement of the prizes’ shortlists on 17 March, before the winners are revealed on 22 June. Both winners receive the titular gold medals and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choosing, with the winner of the Kate Greenaway also receiving a cash prize of £5,000. For a book to qualify, it must be written in English (if it contains text) and have been published, initially in the UK, during the previous school year (September to August).
Chair of the judging panel for both awards, Agnès Guyon, says of the nominees: “I’m thrilled that in this year’s lists we are able to showcase such a creative and rich variety of talent and narrative – testament to the high standard of children’s books publishing today. Books that tackle the whole range of human experiences from the joys and tribulations of friendship, to mortality and grief are featured along with gripping mysteries and imaginative fantasy landscapes.”
Being largely unfamiliar with young people’s fiction, as a childless man in his late 20s, all I can add is that I assume Sally Gardner and David Roberts’ Tinder is not a how-to guide to internet dating.
The longlist for the Carnegie Medal is:
My Brother’s Shadow by Tom Avery
Us Minus Mum by Heather Butler
When Mr. Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan
The Company of Ghosts by Berlie Doherty
The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss
Tinder by Sally Gardner (author) and David Roberts (illustrator)
Monkey and Me by David Gilman
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
The Fastest Boy in the World by Elizabeth Laird
Buffalo Soldier by Tanya Landman
Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis
The Middle of Nowhere by Geraldine McCaughrean
Hello Darkness by Anthony McGowan
More Than This by Patrick Ness
Close Your Pretty Eyes by Sally Nicholls
Trouble by Non Pratt
Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
Smart: a Mysterious Crime, a Different Detective by Kim Slater
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
The longlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal is:
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
What If? by Anthony Browne
The Promise by Laura Carlin (illustrator) and Nicola Davies (author)
The Something by Rebecca Cobb
On Sudden Hill by Benji Davies (illustrator) and Linda Sarah (author)
Jim’s Lion by Alexis Deacon (illustrator) and Russell Hoban (author)
Hermelin: the Detective Mouse by Mini Grey
Shackleton’s Journey by William Grill
Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton
Dark Satanic Mills by John Higgins and Marc Olivent (illustrators) and Julian Sedgwick and Marcus Sedgwick (authors)
The Great War: an Anthology of Stories Inspired by Objects from the First World War by Jim Kay (illustrator) and various (authors)
Wayland by John Lawrence (illustrator) and Tony Mitton (author)
Smelly Louie by Catherine Rayner
Fortunately, the Milk… by Chris Riddell (illustrator) and Neil Gaiman (author)
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse by Chris Riddell
Tinder by David Roberts (illustrator) and Sally Gardner (author)
The Pilot and the Little Prince by Peter Sís
Tiny: the Invisible World of Microbes by Emily Sutton (illustrator) and Nicola Davies (author)
The Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner