There are a total 33 titles longlisted in the two Carnegie Greenaway awards, one for children’s books, the other for illustration.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

‘In These Times of Worry’

Based in the United Kingdom, the Carnegie Greenaway Awards program—which styles itself as the market’s “longest-running and best-loved children’s book awards”—has begun a three-year sponsorship arrangement with Yoto, the company that makes an audio device that plays stories, music, educational activities, sound effects, podcasts, and radio for children.

Now calling itself the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards program, this book contest is managed by the charity referred to as CILIP, which stands for “Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals,” as chartered by the crown in 1898. The organization was rebranded “CILIP: The Library and Information Association” in 2017.

These awards are juried by children’s librarians. The longlists we publish today (February 18) were chosen from 148 nominations by a 14-librarian panel from the CILIP Youth Libraries Group.

The Carnegie Medal, which is awarded annually, was established in 1936, in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835−1919). In response to the importance of libraries in his childhood, Carnegie set up more than 2,800 libraries across the English-language world. By the time of his death, more than half the library-operation agencies in Great Britain are said to have had Carnegie libraries.

• In 2021, the Carnegie Medal was won by Jason Reynolds for Look Both Ways.

The Kate Greenaway Medal was created in 1955 to recognize distinguished illustration in a book for children. Named after a 19th-century artist of 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.

• In 2021, the Kate Greenaway Medal was won by Sydney Smith for Small in the City.

This year’s longlists comprise 33 books. There are 18 in the longlist for the Carnegie and 15 in the longlist for the Greenaway.

Shortlists are to be released on March 16. Winners are expected on June 16, to be named at the British Library, a frequently used venue for such awards announcements in England.

The 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal Longlist

• 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, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada (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

• 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)

These lists, the program says, include nine children’s books that are debut publications for their authors.

Jennifer Horan, chair of the jurors this year, is quoted, saying, “We were transported and moved by evocative and lyrical prose; taken on fantastical journeys and invited into new worlds through powerful illustration; and given real hope by the messages of humanity, connection and community that so many of this year’s longlisted books share.

“I congratulate all the authors and illustrators on their outstanding work, which will bring young readers so much pleasure and reassurance in these times of worry.”

This is Publishing Perspectives’ 34th awards report in the 35 publication days since our 2022 operations began on January 3.

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More from Publishing Perspectives on children’s books is here, more from us on publishing and book awards programs is here, and more on the UK market is here.

More on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.