The longlists for the 2021 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced!

The Carnegie Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

Here are the longlisted books for the 2021 Carnegie Medal:

• Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
• The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson
• The Space We’re In by Katya Balen
• The Short Knife by Elen Caldecott
• The Girl Who Became a Tree written by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner
• Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo
• Furious Thing by Jenny Downham
• Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
• On Midnight Beach by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
• Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
• And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
• In the Key of Code by Aimee Lucido
• Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann
• The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
• Burn by Patrick Ness
• After the War by Tom Palmer
• Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds
• The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
• Somebody Give This Heart a Pen by Sophie Thakur
• Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk

Here are the longlisted books for the 2020 Kate Greenaway Medal:

• Just Because illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault, written by Mac Barnett
• The Wind in the Wall illustrated by Rovina Cai, written by Sally Gardner
• The Misadventures Of Frederick illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, written by Ben Manley
• My Nana’s Garden illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle, written by Dawn Casey
• Tibble and Grandpa illustrated by Daniel Egneus, written by Wendy Meddour
• Where Happiness Begins illustrated and written by Eva Eland
• The Fate Of Fausto illustrated and written by Oliver Jeffers
• The Child of Dreams illustrated by Richard Jones, written by Irena Brignull
• Starbird illustrated and written by Sharon King-Chai
• Lights on Cotton Rock illustrated and written by David Litchfield
• The Bird Within Me illustrated by Sara Lundberg and translated by translated by B. J. Epstein
• It’s A No-Money Day illustrated and written by Kate Milner
• The Girl Who Became A Tree illustrated by Kate Milner, written by Joseph Coelho
• How The Stars Came To Be illustrated and written by Poonam Mistry
• Hike illustrated and written by Pete Oswald
• I Go Quiet illustrated and written by David Ouimet
• Arlo The Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep illustrated and written by Catherine Rayner
• Hidden Planet illustrated and written by Ben Rothery
• Small In The City illustrated and written by Sydney Smith
• Dandelion’s Dream illustrated and written by Yoko Tanaka

Ellen Krajewski, Chair of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals judging panel, said of the longlist:

“The talent and imagination on display across 2021’s longlist is truly inspiring. The variety of stories, the creativity in how those stories have been lovingly crafted, and the relatability of the characters and their experiences has been a joy for all the judges to behold. The Awards’ mission is to empower the next generation to shape a better world through books and reading, which is undoubtedly what this longlist helps to achieve, inviting children stuck indoors during lockdown to open the door to a myriad of fun and exciting places and be transported. Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators for their exceptional and transformative work.”

The 2021 shortlists will be announced on 18 March, with the winners to be revealed on 16 June.

Find out more about this year’s longlisted books for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals here.