Carnegie Medal for Illustration facts for kids

The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a special British award given every year. It celebrates the best pictures in a children's book. An organization called the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) gives out this award.

The medal used to be called the Kate Greenaway Medal. It was named after a famous artist from the 1800s, Kate Greenaway. The award started in 1955. The very first medal was given in 1957 to Edward Ardizzone for his book Tim All Alone.

To be considered, books must be first published in the UK between September and August. The text, if there is any, must be in English.

The winner receives a gold medal and £500 worth of books for a library they choose. Since 2000, there's also a £5,000 cash prize. This medal is like a partner to the Carnegie Medal for Writing, which honors amazing writing for kids and teens.

How Winners Are Chosen

Librarians and information experts who are part of CILIP suggest books in the autumn. A group of 12 children's librarians then judges the books for both the writing and illustration awards. They announce a shortlist of finalists in March and the winner in June.

Books must be published in the UK for young people. They can be originally from the UK or published there within three months of being released elsewhere. If a book has words, they must be in English or one of two languages. All kinds of illustrated books for children and teens can be nominated.

CILIP looks at many things when judging. They consider the art style, how the book looks, and how the pictures and words work together. The whole book should be a fun and memorable visual experience.

Past Winners of the Medal

Since 1955, 69 medals have been given out over 70 years, covering books published up to 2024. No suitable books were found in 1955 or 1958. From 2007, the medals are dated by the year they are given out. Before that, they were dated by the year the book was published.

* Named to the 50th Anniversary Top Ten in 2007.

Illustrators Who Won More Than Once

Only one illustrator, Chris Riddell, has won the medal three times. Fourteen other illustrators have won it twice. John Burningham was the first to win twice, in 1963 and 1970. The most recent is Sydney Smith, who won in 2018 and 2021.

Only one book, A Monster Calls, has won both the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. This happened in 2012 for the book by Patrick Ness and Jim Kay.

In 2014, This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen won both the Carnegie Medal for Illustration and the American Caldecott Medal. This was the first time the same book won both of these big awards.

Gail E. Haley was the first illustrator to win both medals, but for different books. She won the Caldecott in 1971 and the Greenaway in 1976.

Walker Books, a publisher in London, has published many of the winning books. They published 10 of the 30 winners between 1985 and 2014.

The 'Best of the Best' Greenaway Books (2007)

For the 50th anniversary of the medal in 2007, CILIP asked the public to vote for their favorite Kate Greenaway Medal winner. People voted between October 2006 and June 2007.

The winner was Dogger, illustrated and written by Shirley Hughes (1977). It won by a very small amount over Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet Ahlberg and Allan Ahlberg (1978).

A group of children's book experts chose ten books for the public to vote on. These books were:

• Janet Ahlberg, Each Peach Pear Plum (Kestrel, 1978), written by Allan Ahlberg
• Edward Ardizzone, Tim All Alone (Oxford, 1956)
• Quentin Blake, Mr Magnolia (Jonathan Cape, 1980)
• Raymond Briggs, Father Christmas (Hamish Hamilton, 1973)
• Anthony Browne, Gorilla (Julia MacRae, 1983)
• John Burningham, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers (Jonathan Cape, 1963)
• Lauren Child, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato (Orchard, 2000)
• Shirley Hughes, Dogger (Bodley Head, 1977)
• Charles Keeping, The Highwayman (Oxford, 1981), a version of the 1906 poem by Alfred Noyes
• Helen Oxenbury, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Walker, 1999), a version of the 1865 novel by Lewis Carroll

Books That Almost Won (and Special Mentions)

This section lists some of the books that were shortlisted or received special mentions.

Early Years: 1955 to 1989

In 1954, illustrator Harold Jones received a special mention for his work in Lavender's Blue: A Book of Nursery Rhymes. This helped inspire the creation of the Kate Greenaway Medal.

1955 (No award given) 1956 Edward Ardizzone, Tim All Alone (Oxford)

• Ardizzone started the Tim series in 1936. Tim All Alone was chosen as one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007.

1957 V. H. Drummond, Mrs Easter and the Storks (Faber) 1958 (No award given)

• No book was considered good enough, which only happened twice.

1959 William Stobbs, Kashtanka (Oxford) and A Bundle of Ballads (Oxford)

• This year, two books won the medal. Two other books were also "Commended."

1962 Brian Wildsmith, ABC (Oxford)

• ABC was Wildsmith's first book. It was an alphabet book with no words.

1963 John Burningham, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose With No Feathers (Jonathan Cape)

• Borka was Burningham's first book. It was also named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007.

1964 C. Walter Hodges, Shakespeare's Theatre (Oxford)

• This was the first nonfiction book to win the medal.

1965 Victor Ambrus, The Three Poor Tailors (Oxford; Hamish Hamilton)

• This was the first book written by Ambrus.

1968 Pauline Baynes, A Dictionary of Chivalry (Longman)

• Baynes is the only person to win for illustrating a reference book.

1970 John Burningham, Mr Gumpy's Outing (Jonathan Cape)

• Burningham became the first person to win two medals.

1973 Raymond Briggs, Father Christmas (Hamish Hamilton)

• Briggs introduced a grumpy Santa. Father Christmas was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007.

1977 Shirley Hughes, Dogger (Bodley Head)

• Dogger was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007 and was voted the public's favorite.

1978 Janet Ahlberg, Each Peach Pear Plum (Kestrel)

• This book was also named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007 and came in second in public voting.

1983 Anthony Browne, Gorilla (Julia MacRae)

• Gorilla was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007.

1989 Michael Foreman, War Boy: a Country Childhood (Pavilion)

• Foreman won his second medal.

The 1990s

In 1991, Janet Ahlberg won her second medal for The Jolly Christmas Postman. This book was a team effort with her husband.

Anthony Browne won his second medal in 1992 for Zoo.

In 1994, Helen Oxenbury was highly commended for So Much. She also won another award for this book.

The end of the 1990s saw three illustrators win their second medals: P. J. Lynch in 1997, Helen Cooper in 1998, and Helen Oxenbury in 1999 for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This book was also named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007.

Colour key:

     – Medal Winner

     – Highly commended

     – Commended

The 2000s

Since 2000, the winner also gets a £5,000 cash prize, thanks to a gift from a book collector named Colin Mears.

The winning book in 2000, I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works in 2007.

In 2001, Pirate Diary became the first "information book" to win the medal since 1975.

In 2002, Bob Graham became the first winner from Australia.

In 2003, Shirley Hughes won her second medal for Ella's Big Chance, a new version of Cinderella. After this year, the "Commended" and "Highly Commended" mentions stopped.

Chris Riddell won his second medal in 2004 for Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver".

In 2005, Emily Gravett won for Wolves, her first book. Three years later, in 2008, she won her second medal for Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears.

Colour key:

     – Medal Winner

     – Highly commended

     – Commended

The 2010s

In 2012, Jim Kay and Patrick Ness made history by winning both the Carnegie Medal for Illustration and the Carnegie Medal for Writing for their book A Monster Calls. This was the first time one book won both awards.

In 2014, Jon Klassen became the first Canadian to win the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. His book This is Not My Hat also won the American Caldecott Medal in 2013, making it the first book to win both awards.

Chris Riddell became the first illustrator to win three medals in 2016.

From 2016 to 2018, there was an extra award called The Amnesty CLIP Honour. It was given to books that showed important ideas about freedom. In 2016, There’s a Bear on My Chair won this honor. In 2017, The Journey, about a refugee family, won. In 2018, Levi Penfold won for The Song from Somewhere Else.

In 2019, the Amnesty CLIP Honour was replaced by the Shadowers' Choice Award. This award is voted for by children and young people who follow the medals.

Colour key:

     – Medal Winner

     – Amnesty CLIP Honour (2016–2018) and Shadowers' Choice Award (2019–) winner if different from Medal winner

The 2020s

In 2020, Australian artist Shaun Tan became the first Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic (BAME) author to win the Greenaway Medal.

In 2022, Long Way Down by Danica Novgorodoff became the first graphic novel to win the medal since Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas in 1973. The 2023 medal also went to a graphic novel.

Colour key:

     – Medal Winner

     – Shadowers' Choice Award winner if different from Medal winner

See also

• Carnegie Medal for Writing
• Caldecott Medal – a major American award for picture book illustration