Press Release: CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Shortlists Books 2016

In a shortlist of novels thick with secrets and lies, Patrick Ness vies to be the first ever author to win the Carnegie Medal three times. Ness’s The Rest of Us Just Live Here follows the lives and loves of a group of teenagers and faces tough competition from Frances Hardinge’s Costa Book of the Year winnerThe Lie Tree, in which a young Victorian girl uses lies to find the truth behind her father’s murder, and Robin Talley’s debut, Lies We Tell Ourselves, which sees two teen girls fall in love across the race divide in 1950s America. Joining them on the shortlist are Nick Lake’s There Will Be Lies in which a teenage girl is forced to re-evaluate her identity, Jenny Valentine’s Fire Colour One which explores questions of authenticity and honesty, and Kate Saunders’s Five Children on the Western Front which looks at the reality of conflict and the impact of the First World War on a single family. Marcus Sedgwick’s The Ghosts of Heaven, four interlinking stories on the search for the true meaning of life, and Sarah Crossan’s One, a tale of conjoined twins which explores notions of individuality, complete the Carnegie shortlist for 2016.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2016 shortlist in full (alphabetically by author surname):

• One by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
• The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)
• There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury)
• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)
• Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders (Faber)
• The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick (Indigo)
• Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (MiraInk)
• Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)

At the heart of the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist, awarded for outstanding illustration in a book for children, is a three-way face-off between former Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne, current Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell and Helen Oxenbury, all with two Medals already to their names. Oxenbury first won in 1969, nearly half a century ago, while Browne first won in 1983. Riddell, a relative newcomer, first won in 2001. Traditional picture book stories for younger readers make up the majority of the Kate Greenaway shortlist, following 2015’s more sombre list. 

Browne employs a wide range of colours and styles in Willy’s Stories, to celebrate the worlds within a library, while Oxenbury’s distinctive style is at the fore in Captain Jack and the Pirates, merging soft blacks and whites with muted colours. Riddell uses a limited but highly evocative palette of black, white and gold in The Sleeper and the Spindle and Sydney Smith’s visual storytelling in Footpath Flowers uses selective colour against stark black and white. Ross Collins’s There’s a Bear on My Chair uses size, scale and words to create humour and contrast whilst Jackie Morris’s Something About A Bearbrings the lives of the world’s bears to life with a true painterly quality, and in Once Upon an Alphabet, Oliver Jeffers creates a distinctive visual style with bright colours and strong lines bringing each letter’s tale to life. Finally, previous Kate Greenaway Medal winner Jon Klassen uses earthy colours and increasingly dark shades in Sam & Dave Dig a Hole.

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2016 shortlist in full (alphabetically by illustrator surname):

• Willy’s Stories illustrated and written by Anthony Browne (Walker Books)
• There’s a Bear on My Chair illustrated and written by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow)
• Once Upon an Alphabet illustrated and written by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)
• Sam & Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (Walker Books)
• Something About a Bear illustrated and written by Jackie Morris (Frances Lincoln)
• Captain Jack and the Pirates illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, written by Peter Bently (Puffin)
• The Sleeper and the Spindle illustrated by Chris Riddell, written by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)
• Footpath Flowers illustrated by Sydney Smith, written by JonArno Lawson (Walker Books)

Sioned Jacques, Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals judging panel for 2016, said: “These exceptionally strong shortlists reflect the huge range of writing and illustrating talent in children’s publishing at the moment. The lists are a true celebration of the longevity of these wonderful talents, with Helen Oxenbury and Anthony Browne showing that they are still delivering incredible work decades after first winning a Medal. Questions of secrecy, lies, who we really are and how we identify ourselves are all explored in different, surprising and innovative ways. Our shortlisted writers and illustrators don’t shy away from difficult or big ideas but skilfully introduce them to young readers in ways that are gripping, moving, entertaining but always, without exception, page-turning.”

Dawn Finch, President of CILIP, said: “We are without doubt in a golden age of children’s books. From stories set in Victorian times and World War One to a modern day library, from fantasy worlds to the future, these shortlists showcase the enormous talent and unlimited imagination currently to be found in children’s storytelling. There are characters to fall in love and go on adventures with and journeys and discoveries to be made. Each and every one of the books on the shortlists could be a worthy winner and all of them are truly deserving of a global audience.”

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the oldest children’s book awards in the UK, with the first winners announced in 1936 and 1956 respectively. The titles on the shortlists are contenders for the highest accolades in children’s literature, with previous winners including legendary talents Arthur Ransome, C.S Lewis and Mary Norton for the Carnegie Medal and illustrators Quentin Blake, Shirley Hughes and Raymond Briggs for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

The winners for both the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal will be announced on Monday 20th June at a lunchtime ceremony at the British Library. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library and a specially commissioned golden medal. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has been awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize and, from 2016, the Carnegie Medal winner will also be awarded an equal amount of prize money from the same fund. At the ceremony in June, one title from each shortlist will also be named the recipient of the Amnesty CILIP Honour, a brand new commendation for a book that most distinctively illuminates, upholds or celebrates freedoms. The two titles receiving the commendation will be able to carry an Amnesty CILIP Honour logo. 

Congratulations: LONGLISTS CILIP CARNEGIE/KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED 2016

The longlists for both the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest and most prestigious children’s book awards, are revealed. The 20-strong CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist sees the late Terry Pratchett’s final novel up against books by fellow previous winners Sally Gardner, Patrick Ness and David Almond as well as Frances Hardinge’s recent Costa Book of the Year winner, The Lie Tree.

In the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal longlist, former Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne could win a second Medal nearly a quarter of a century after his previous triumph with the return of his much loved chimpanzee hero in Willy’s Stories. He faces stiff competition from a powerhouse longlist including fellow former winners Chris Riddell, Helen Oxenbury and Emily Gravett. The Imaginary, for which Gravett is longlisted, is also in the running for this year’s Carnegie Medal. In an unusual twist, both Chris Riddell and Oliver Jeffers will be competing against themselves with each being listed twice.

All of those longlisted will be vying to join the pantheon of past winners of the world respected Medals, including legendary authors Arthur Ransome and C.S Lewis and renowned illustrators Quentin Blake and Shirley Hughes. The Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal are awarded for outstanding writing and illustration, respectively, in books for children and young people. Judged by a panel of expert librarians, the Medals are unique and are known as the awards that children’s book authors and illustrators say they ‘most want to win’. 

Sioned Jacques, Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals judging panel for 2016, said:

“It is a real honour to take on the mantle of chairing the judging panel for this year’s Medals.  The longlists for 2016 are outstanding and perfectly reflect the vibrancy of children’s books in the UK today. This is a real golden age of writing and illustrating for children and the range of skills and storytelling on display in the longlists are proof of the incredibly high standards of this ever-growing area of publishing – every book is a potential winner. These are all fantastic books and every one of them deserves a wide audience.”

Dawn Finch, President of CILIP, said:

"The Medals play a hugely important role in recommending good books to children, parents and teachers and illustrate the key role that librarians play in introducing readers to new books and to fantastic new storytellers and artists. The images and stories in both longlists leap off the page and the whole gamut of human life and experience is reflected, with books that cover family and friendship, love and loyalty and secrets and lies. There are books that explore war, slavery, civil rights and equality, others that re-imagine ancient myths, stories of coming of age and tales that span time and space, firing imaginations with every page that is read.”

The shortlists for both the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2016 will be announced on Tuesday 15^th March, with the winners being announced on Monday 20^th June at a special daytime event at the British Library. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library and a specially commissioned golden medal. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has also been awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize. In 2016, for the first time, the Carnegie Medal winner will also be awarded an equal amount of prize money from the Colin Mears Award. Also new for 2016, one title from each shortlist will be named the recipient of the Amnesty CILIP Honour, a new commendation for a book that most distinctively illuminates, upholds or celebrates freedoms. The two titles receiving the commendation will be able to carry an Amnesty CILIP Honour logo. On shortlist announcement day, Tuesday 15^th March, Amnesty will host a drinks reception in London to celebrate the shortlists for both Medals. 

The books longlisted for the 2016 CILIP Carnegie Medal are:

Book by John Agard (Walker Books)

A Song For Ella Grey by David Almond (Hodder)

One by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)

The Earth Is Singing by Vanessa Curtis (Usborne)

The Door That Led To Where by Sally Gardner (Hot Key Books)

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan)

The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold (Bloomsbury)

There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake (Bloomsbury)

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Neilsen (Andersen Press)

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (Walker Books)

Jessica's Ghost by Andrew Norriss (David Fickling Books)

Panther by David Owen (Little, Brown Book Group)

Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett (Penguin Random House)

Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders (Faber)

The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick (Indigo)

Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton (David Fickling Books)

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (MiraInk, HarperCollins)

Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)

My Name's Not Friday by Jon Walter (David Fickling Books)

Liccle Bit by Alex Wheatle (Atom Books)

The books longlisted for the 2016 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal are: 

Please Mr Panda illustrated and written by Steve Anthony (Hodder Children’s Books)

Where’s the Elephant? illustrated and written by Barroux (Egmont Books)

Willy’s Stories illustrated and written by Anthony Browne (Walker Books)

This Book Just Ate My Dog! illustrated and written by Richard Byrne (Oxford University Press)

Wall illustrated and written by Tom Clohosy Cole (Templar)

There’s a Bear on My Chair illustrated and written by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow)

Grandad’s Island illustrated and written by Benji Davies (Simon & Schuster)

How the Sun Got to Coco's House illustrated and written by Bob Graham (Walker Books)

The Imaginary illustrated by Emily Gravett, written by A.F Harrold (Bloomsbury)

Once Upon an Alphabet illustrated and written by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)

The Day the Crayons Came Home illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, written by Drew Daywalt (HarperCollins)

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (Walker Books)

Something About a Bear illustrated and written by Jackie Morris (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)

Captain Jack and the Pirates illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, written by Peter Bently (Puffin)

Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death illustrated and written by Chris Riddell (Macmillan)

The Sleeper and the Spindle illustrated by Chris Riddell, written by Neil Gaiman (Bloomsbury)

The Bolds illustrated by David Roberts, written by Julian Clary (Andersen Press) 

Animalium illustrated by Katie Scott, written by Jenny Broom (Big Picture Press)

Footpath Flowers illustrated by Sydney Smith, written by JonArno Lawson (Walker Books)

Lili illustrated and written by Wen Dee Tan (Fat Fox)

About the CILIP Carnegie Medal   

The Carnegie Medal, awarded annually, was established in 1936 in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835 - 1919). A self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA, Carnegie’s experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that “If ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries.” He set up more than 2,800 libraries across the English speaking world and by the time of his death over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries. 

About the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955 for distinguished illustration in a book for children. Named after the popular nineteenth century artist, known for her beautiful children's illustrations and designs, the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. 

About the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP)

CILIP is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. CILIP’s vision is a fair and economically prosperous society underpinned by literacy, access to information and the transfer of knowledge. CILIP is a registered charity, no. 313014. The Youth Libraries Group (YLG) of CILIP works in a ‘pressure group’ role to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services. Visit www.cilip.org.uk

CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2014 and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist 2014

CILIP Carnegie Medal 2014 shortlist:

• All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry (Templar)
• The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks (Puffin)
• The Child's Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston (David Fickling Books)
• Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper (Bodley Head)
• Blood Family by Anne Fine (Double Day)
• Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (Faber & Faber)
• Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (Anderson Press)
• The Wall by William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury)

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2014 shortlist:

• The Paper Dolls by Rebecca Cobb (illustrator) and Julia Donaldson (author) (Macmillan Children's Books)
• Where My Wellies Take Me by Olivia Gill (illustrator) and Michael Morpurgo and Clare Morpurgo (authors) (Templar)
• The Day the Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers (illustrator) and Drew Daywalt (author) (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Walker Books)
• The Dark by Jon Klassen (illustrator) and Lemony Snicket (author) (Orchard Books)
• Mouse, Bird, Snake, Wolf by Dave McKean (illustrator) and David Almond (author) (Walker Books)
• Oliver by Birgitta Sif (Walker Books)

The 2014 winners for both the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal will be announced on Monday 23rd June 2014 at a lunchtime ceremony at the Unicorn Theatre in London. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library and the coveted golden Medals. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has also been awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize. The ceremony will be live-streamed for the first time.

Website: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/

SHORTLISTS FOR 2013 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

                                                     

About the CILIP Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal, awarded annually, was established in 1936, in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835 - 1919). A self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA, Carnegie's experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that "If ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries." He set up more than 2,800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries.

About the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955, for distinguished illustration in a book for children. Named after the popular nineteenth century artist known for her beautiful children's illustrations and designs, the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2013 shortlist in full:

• The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan, Bloomsbury
• A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle, Marion Lloyd Books
• Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, Hot Key Books
• In Darkness by Nick Lake, Bloomsbury
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Bodley Head
• Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick, Indigo
• A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton, David Fickling Books
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Electric Monkey

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2013 shortlist in full:

• Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb, Macmillan Children's Books
• Again! by Emily Gravett, Macmillan Children's Books
• Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton, Walker Books
• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Walker Books
• Pirates 'n' Pistols by Chris Mould, Hodder Children's Books
• King Jack and the Dragon by Helen Oxenbury (illustrator) and Peter Bently (author), Puffin Books
• Black Dog by Levi Pinfold, Templar Publishing
• Just Ducks! by Salvatore Rubbino (illustrator) and Nicola Davies (author), Walker Books

The winners for both the CILIP Carnegie Medal and the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal will be announced on Wednesday 19^th June 2013 at an afternoon ceremony at the Natural History Museum in London. The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to their local library and the coveted golden medals. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has also been awarded the £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.