The longlists for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, now known as the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway, are announced today. ALCS is a proud sponsor.

There are 18 books in the running for the Yoto Carnegie Medal and 15 for the Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal. Themes of community and connection, shared humanity and friendship are all explored in the longlisted titles.

The lists feature nine debut children’s books, including two novels from teachers: the hard-hitting YA novel Grow by secondary school teacher Luke Palmer and enthralling historical middle-grade mystery The Valley of Lost Secrets by primary school teacher Lesley Parr.

Two double Kate Greenaway winners also feature on the lists. Sydney Smith’s I Talk Like A River, a moving picture book about a boy who stutters, inspired by poet Jordan Scott’s own experience is in contention for the prize, as well as Emily Gravett for Too Much Stuff!, a vibrant, rhyming tale of two magpies and their warning about the perils of over-consumption. Previous Carnegie winners Manjeet Mann and Angie Thomas also made the lists.

The Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration respectively and are unique in being judged by children’s librarians, with the Shadowers’ Choice Award voted for by children and young people. The longlists were chosen from 148 nominations by the judging panel, which includes 14 children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group.

The 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal longlist is (alphabetical by author surname):

• October, October by Katya Balen, illustrated by Angela Harding (Bloomsbury)
• Musical Truth by Jeffrey Boakye, illustrated by Ngadi Smart (Faber)
• We Were Wolves by Jason Cockcroft (Andersen Press)
• Guard Your Heart by Sue Divin (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle (Andersen Press)
• When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten (Pushkin Children’s Books)
• The Climbers by Keith Gray (Barrington Stoke)
• Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber)
• The Wolf Road by Richard Lambert (Everything With Words)
• Rat by Patrice Lawrence (Oxford University Press)
• The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Children’s Books)
• Grow by Luke Palmer (Firefly Press)
• The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury)
• Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick (Guppy Books)
• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas (Walker Books)
• Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle (Andersen Press)
• In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner (Andersen Press)
• Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

The 2022 Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal longlist is (alphabetical by illustrator surname):

• While You’re Sleeping illustrated by John Broadley, written by Mick Jackson (Pavilion Books)
• Drawn Across Borders illustrated and written by George Butler (Walker Books)
• The Midnight Fair illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio, written by Gideon Sterer (Walker Books)
• Wild Child illustrated by Barry Falls, written by Dara McAnulty (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• A Cat Called Waverley illustrated and written by Debi Gliori (Otter-Barry Books)
• Too Much Stuff illustrated and written by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots)
• Diamonds illustrated and written by Armin Greder (Allen & Unwin Children’s Books)
• Over the Shop illustrated by Qin Leng, written by JonArno Lawson (Walker Books)
• Long Way Down illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff, written by Jason Reynolds (Faber)
• The Invisible illustrated and written by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
• Milo Imagines the World illustrated by Christian Robinson, written by Matt de la Pena (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• Shu Lin’s Grandpa illustrated by Yu Rong, written by Matt Goodfellow (Otter-Barry Books)
• I Talk Like a River illustrated by Sydney Smith, written by Jordan Scott (Walker Books)
• The House by the Lake illustrated by Britta Teckentrup, written by Thomas Harding (Walker Books)
• The Wanderer illustrated and written by Peter Van den Ende (Pushkin Children’s Books)

The shortlists will be announced on Wednesday 16 March. Read more about the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards.