The Carnegies 2026

The Carnegies are the UK’s longest running and best-loved children’s book awards, recognising outstanding reading experiences created through writing and illustration in books for children and young people.

The Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. (Formerly known as the Carnegie Medal)

The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. (Formerly known as the Kate Greenaway Medal)

10th February 2026

Longlist Announced

10th March 2026

Shortlist Announced

23rd June 2026

Winners Announced

WINNER 2026

Wolf Siren

O’Brien, Beth ISBN: 9780008642013
Paperback / softback

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A vibrant, evocative and magical debut which centres a positive, empowered disabled character at the heart of a reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood.

The woods are hiding a secret… but then so is Red… Red is not allowed to go into the woods. Everyone knows that they are dangerous – because of their strange magic and the wolves that lurk there… But Red finds herself increasingly drawn to the woods and the place where her grandmother disappeared without a trace three years ago. When the woodcutter fails to return home one night and wolves are spotted close to the village boundary, fear drives a deep and dangerous divide between the villagers and the nature they live alongside. Only Red seems to hold the key – but she has a secret, and exposing it could ruin her family forever.

- Browns Books Synopsis

WINNER 2026

Wiggling Words

Rolfe, Kate ISBN: 9781035019601
Paperback / softback

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An inspiring story about a child lost in a forest of letters. The perfect book to share with children with dyslexia and other neurodivergence to encourage problem-solving and build confidence.

Verbs, also known as action words, can be pesky things to master and nobody understands the struggle better than the young child in Wiggling Words. Skip, trip, fumble and fall with them as they discover that even though words can be tricky, they can be fun too!

- Browns Books Synopsis

Shadower’s Choice Winners

O’Brien, Beth ISBN: 9780008642013
Paperback / softback

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Golding, William ISBN: 9780571374250
Hardback

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Wolf Siren

A vibrant, evocative and magical debut which centres a positive, empowered disabled character at the heart of a reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood.

The woods are hiding a secret… but then so is Red… Red is not allowed to go into the woods. Everyone knows that they are dangerous – because of their strange magic and the wolves that lurk there… But Red finds herself increasingly drawn to the woods and the place where her grandmother disappeared without a trace three years ago. When the woodcutter fails to return home one night and wolves are spotted close to the village boundary, fear drives a deep and dangerous divide between the villagers and the nature they live alongside. Only Red seems to hold the key – but she has a secret, and exposing it could ruin her family forever.

- Browns Books Synopsis

Lord of the Flies

A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors, a group of schoolboys. By day, they explore the dazzling beaches. By night, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast and of what they've lost. “There aren't any grown-ups anywhere”. Orphaned by society, they must forge their own; but it isn't long before the group is split, and their innocent games take a dangerous turn. “What are we? Humans? Or Animals?”

For the first time, from acclaimed artist Aimée de Jongh, comes the stunning graphic novel adaptation of this classic story, one of the BBC's '100 Novels that shaped our World'.

- Browns Books Synopsis

Nominations, Longlists, Shortlists and Winners for the 2025 Carnegie Medals for Writing and Illustration, and Shadower’s Choice Awards can be found here