and young adults. It is awarded by the
(CILIP). CILIP also recognizes excellence in
and should first have been published in the UK during the previous year. Until 1969 the award was limited to books by British authors first published in England. The first non-British author to receive the award was
in 1972. The original rules also stated that an author could only win the Medal once. This rule was later changed to enable subsequent work by the same author to be included for consideration. The first author to be awarded a second Carnegie Medal was
The Carnegie judging panel consists of 13 children's librarians from the Youth Libraries Group of CILIP. Nominated books are also read by students from many schools who send feedback to the judging panel. The award is announced in the June following the year of publication. The winner receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a public or school library.
Note: Since 2007 the year relates to when the medal was awarded. Previously the year refers to the publication date of the books.
| Year |
Author |
Book |
Publisher |
| 2011 |
Patrick Ness Patrick Ness is an American author, journalist and lecturer who lives in London. He holds both American and British citizenship...
|
Monsters of Men Monsters of Men is the third book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness. It was first published in 2010 and is the winner of the 2011 Carnegie Medal.The title was inspired by previous statements in the first two books...
|
Walker Books |
| 2010 |
Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
|
The Graveyard Book The Graveyard Book is a children's fantasy novel by English author Neil Gaiman. The story is about a boy named Nobody Owens, who after his family is murdered is adopted and raised by the occupants of a graveyard...
|
Bloomsbury |
| 2009 |
Siobhan Dowd Siobhan Dowd was a British writer and activist.-Biography:Siobhan Dowd was born in London to Irish parents...
|
Bog Child Bog Child is a historical novel by Siobhan Dowd. The book was released by David Fickling Books on September 9, 2008. It was listed as one of Amazon's Best Book of the Year for 2008 and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year for the children's fiction category in 2008. It also won the 2009...
|
David Fickling Books |
| 2008 |
Philip ReevePhilip Reeve is a British author and illustrator. He presently lives on Dartmoor with his wife Sarah and their son Samuel.-Biography:...
|
Here Lies ArthurHere Lies Arthur is a young adult novel by Philip Reeve. It was first published in April 2007. The Arthur of the title is the King Arthur of legend...
|
Scholastic |
| 2007 |
Meg Rosoff Meg Rosoff is an American author based in London since 1989. She is best known for her novel How I Live Now, which won 3 awards including the Guardian Award , Michael L. Printz Award , Branford Boase Award and was shortlisted for the 2004 Whitbread Awards. Her second novel, , won the prestigious ...
|
Just in Case Just in Case is a young adult novel by Meg Rosoff, first published in 2006. The plot focuses on the adolescent protagonist David Case, who spends the majority of the book attempting to avoid fate. It received generally positive reviews....
|
Penguin |
| 2005 |
Mal Peet Mal Peet is an English author who writes mainly for young adults. His novels have won several awards, including the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.- Biography :...
|
Tamar Tamar is a war novel for young adults by Mal Peet, published in 2005. Tamar won the Carnegie Medal in 2005 and a further award in 2007....
|
Walker Books |
| 2004 |
Frank Cottrell Boyce -Awards:*2004: Buch des Monats des Instituts für Jugendliteratur/Book of the Month by the Institute for Youth Literature , Millions*2004: Carnegie Medal, Millions*2004: Luchs des Jahres , Millions...
|
Millions Millions is a children's novel by Frank Cottrell Boyce, published in 2004. It was originally written solely as a screenplay for the film Millions, but screenwriter Cottrell Boyce decided to adapt it into a novel while the film was in the process of being made. It was his first novel...
|
Macmillan |
| 2003 |
Jennifer Donnelly Jennifer Donnelly is a historical fiction author best-known for her novel A Northern Light . She has also written The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, and Revolution, as well as Humble Pie, a picture book for children...
|
A Gathering Light |
Bloomsbury |
| 2002 |
Sharon Creech Sharon Creech is an American novelist of children's fiction.-Biography:Sharon Creech was born in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, where she grew up with her parents , one sister , and three brothers...
|
Ruby HollerRuby Holler is a children's novel with elements of magic realism by American writer Sharon Creech. It won the 2002 Carnegie Medal.-Plot:...
|
Bloomsbury |
| 2001 |
Terry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
|
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated RodentsThe Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is the 28th novel in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, published in 2001. It was the first Discworld book to be aimed at the younger market; this was followed by The Wee Free Men in 2003...
|
Doubleday |
| 2000 |
Beverley Naidoo Beverley Naidoo is a popular South African children's author who has written a number of award-winning novels, mainly about life in South Africa, where she spent her childhood. She graduated from the University of York with a BA in Education in 1968....
|
The Other Side of TruthThe Other Side of Truth is a children's novel about Nigerian political refugees by Beverley Naidoo, published in 2000. A powerful story about justice and freedom of speech, it received several awards including the Carnegie Medal....
|
Puffin |
| 1999 |
Aidan Chambers Aidan Chambers is an award-winning British writer of novels for children and young adults.- Life and work :Born near Chester-le-Street, County Durham in 1934, Chambers was an only child, and a poor scholar; considered "slow" by his teachers, he did not learn to read fluently until the age of nine...
|
Postcards from No Man's Land Postcards from No Man's Land is a young adult novel by Aidan Chambers. The book follows the experiences of 17-year-old Jacob Todd as he visits Amsterdam during the commemmoration of the Battle of Arnhem, in which his grandfather fought....
|
Bodley Head |
| 1998 |
David Almond David Almond is a British children's writer who has written several novels, each one to critical acclaim.-Early life:Almond was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia, he was born in 1951...
|
Skellig Skellig is a novel by David Almond, for which Almond was awarded the Carnegie Medal in 1998 and also the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award. The book won the 2000 Michael L. Printz Honor from YALSA in the United States...
|
Hodder |
| 1997 |
Tim Bowler Tim Bowler is the author of twenty books for children, teenagers and young adults. He has won 15 awards, including the Carnegie Medal, the pre-eminent UK award for children's literature, for his novel River Boy....
|
River Boy River Boy is a young adult novel by Tim Bowler, published in 1997. It is the story of a teenage girl facing the prospect of bereavement. River Boy was awarded the 1997 Carnegie Medal, and the 1999 Angus Book Award.-Plot summary:...
|
OUP |
| 1996 |
Melvin Burgess Melvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the...
|
JunkJunk is a 1996 Carnegie Medal and Guardian Award-winning novel by Melvin Burgess. The book is about the experiences of a group of teenagers who fall into heroin addiction and who embrace anarchism on the streets of Bristol, England...
|
Andersen Press |
| 1995 |
Philip PullmanPhilip Pullman CBE, FRSL is an English writer from Norwich. He is the best-selling author of several books, most notably his trilogy of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials, and his fictionalised biography of Jesus, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ...
|
His Dark MaterialsHis Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman comprising Northern Lights , The Subtle Knife , and The Amber Spyglass... 1: Northern LightsNorthern Lights, known as The Golden Compass in North America, is the first novel in English novelist Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy...
|
Scholastic |
| 1994 |
Theresa Breslin Theresa Breslin is a Scottish author, primarily of young adult fiction. She began writing when working as a librarian, and has published 29 books, five of which have also been sold as audiobooks....
|
Whispers in the GraveyardWhispers in the Graveyard is a children's novel by Theresa Breslin, published in 1994. It won the Carnegie Medal, and is described on the Carnegie winners website as "a gripping, powerful and haunting story"...
|
Methuen |
| 1993 |
Robert Swindells Robert E. "Bob" Swindells is an English author of children's and young adult literature.- Biography :Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, Swindells worked for a newspaper after leaving school aged 15. He served with the Royal Air Force and held various jobs before training as a primary school teacher...
|
Stone Cold |
H Hamilton |
| 1992 |
Anne Fine Anne Fine, OBE FRSL is a British author best known for her children's books, of which she has written more than 50. She also writes for adults...
|
Flour Babies Flour Babies is a book written in 1992 by Anne Fine, aimed at older children, which won the Carnegie Medal.-Synopsis:The story centres around Simon Martin, a pupil in class 4C at an unnamed school. 4C is the class reserved for the school's worst students. As it so happens, a new student has...
|
H Hamilton |
| 1991 |
Berlie DohertyBerlie Doherty is an English novelist, poet, playwright and screenwriter. She is best known for her children's books, for which she has twice won the Carnegie Medal...
|
Dear Nobody Dear Nobody is a young adult novel by Berlie Doherty, published in 1991. Set in the northern English city of Sheffield, Dear Nobody tells the story of an unplanned teenage pregnancy and the effect it has on the teenagers and their families....
|
H Hamilton |
| 1990 |
Gillian Cross Gillian Cross is a children's author. She won the 1990 Carnegie Medal for her book Wolf and the 1992 Whitbread Children's Book Award for her novel The Great Elephant Chase....
|
Wolf Wolf is a young adult novel by Gillian Cross. It was the winner of the Carnegie Medal for 1990.-Plot summary:Cassy, who lives with her grandmother, is awakened by mysterious footsteps one night. The next day, as always when the footsteps are heard, she is sent away to live with her lovely but...
|
OUP |
| 1989 |
Anne Fine Anne Fine, OBE FRSL is a British author best known for her children's books, of which she has written more than 50. She also writes for adults...
|
Goggle-Eyes Goggle-Eyes is a children's novel by Anne Fine, first published in 1989. The book won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. American editions are titled My War with Goggle-Eyes....
|
H Hamilton |
| 1988 |
Geraldine McCaughrean Geraldine McCaughrean is a British children's novelist.The youngest of three children, McCaughrean studied teaching but did not like it, and found her true vocation in writing. She claims that what makes her love writing is the desire to escape from an unsatisfactory world...
|
A Pack of Lies A Pack of Lies is a children's novel with metafictional elements by Geraldine McCaughrean, first published in 1988. The novel includes a collection of ten short stories of widely varying type and setting...
|
OUP |
| 1987 |
Susan Price Susan Price, born 1955 in Dudley in the West Midlands, is an award-winning English writer of novels for young adults. She also writes for younger children. She still lives in the Black Country.- Writing :...
|
The Ghost Drum The Ghost Drum is a children's fantasy novel by Susan Price, first published in 1987. It is an original fairy tale using elements from Russian history and folklore and, like many traditional tales, is full of cruelty, violence and sudden death. It is the first of the Ghost World Sequence, which...
|
Faber |
| 1986 |
Berlie DohertyBerlie Doherty is an English novelist, poet, playwright and screenwriter. She is best known for her children's books, for which she has twice won the Carnegie Medal...
|
Granny Was a Buffer Girl Granny Was a Buffer Girl is a young adult novel by Berlie Doherty, published in 1986. The novel recounts stories of love, loyalty and change in several generations of a Sheffield family from the 1930s to the 1980s, linking them to the changing fortunes of the industrial city...
|
Methuen |
| 1985 |
Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland is an English translator, children's author and poet.-Life and career:Born in Mursley, north Buckinghamshire, Holland grew up in Whiteleaf, a small village in the Chilterns...
|
Storm Storm is a children's book by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Alan Marks. It won the Carnegie Medal for 1985.Published in the Banana Book series by Heinemann, this can be considered the first title for younger readers to win the Carnegie Medal...
|
Heinemann |
| 1984 |
Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy ONZ is a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural...
|
The Changeover The Changeover: a Supernatural Romance is a young adult novel by the New Zealand novelist Margaret Mahy, first published in 1984. It won the Carnegie Medal for that year.- Plot introduction :...
|
Dent |
| 1983 |
Jan Mark Jan Mark was a British author, best known as a writer for children. She was christened Janet Marjorie Brisland in Welwyn Garden City in 1943 and was raised and educated in Kent. She was a secondary school teacher between 1965 and 1971, and became a full-time writer in 1974. She wrote over fifty...
|
Handles Handles is a children's novel by Jan Mark which was published in 1983. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal for that year.-Title:"Handles" in this book are names with a special significance, a symbol of self-discovery or growing into oneself...
|
Kestrel |
| 1982 |
Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy ONZ is a well-known New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. While the plots of many of her books have strong supernatural elements, her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growing up.Her books The Haunting and The Changeover: A Supernatural...
|
The Haunting The Haunting is a children's fantasy novel by Margaret Mahy. It was first published in 1982 and won the Carnegie Medal for that year.-Plot introduction:...
|
Dent |
| 1981 |
Robert Westall Robert Atkinson Westall was the author of many books, mostly children's fiction, though also for adults, and non-fiction. Many of his novels, while supposedly aimed at a teenage audience, deal with many complex, dark and in many ways adult themes...
|
The Scarecrows The Scarecrows is a children's novel by Robert Westall, published in 1981. The novel was awarded the Carnegie Medal for 1981, the second Carnegie award for Robert Westall...
|
Chatto & Windus |
| 1980 |
Peter Dickinson Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE is an English author and poet who has written a wide variety of books, notably children's books and detective stories, over a long and distinguished career.-Life and work:...
|
City of Gold City of Gold and other stories from the Old Testament retold by Peter Dickinson is a collection of stories for children based on Old Testament narratives. The illustrations, both in colour and black-and-white, are by Michael Foreman...
|
Gollancz |
| 1979 |
Peter Dickinson Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE is an English author and poet who has written a wide variety of books, notably children's books and detective stories, over a long and distinguished career.-Life and work:...
|
Tulku |
Gollancz |
| 1978 |
David Rees David Bartlett Rees was a British author, lecturer and reviewer. Much of his work was written for children and young adults. His books included The Exeter Blitz, which won the Carnegie Medal for 1978.-Biography:...
|
The Exeter Blitz The Exeter Blitz is a children's historical novel by David Rees, first published in 1978. It won the Carnegie Medal for that year. The novel is about the heavy air raid on the city of Exeter in Devon in May 1942, and its effect on the life of one family, the Lockwoods.-Plot summary:The novel opens...
|
H Hamilton |
| 1977 |
Gene Kemp Gene Kemp Nee Rushton is a British author best known for her children's books. Her first novel, The Pride of Tamworth Pig was published in 1972. She won The Other Award in 1977 and the UK Carnegie Medal in 1978 for The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler ...
|
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler |
Faber |
| 1976 |
Jan Mark Jan Mark was a British author, best known as a writer for children. She was christened Janet Marjorie Brisland in Welwyn Garden City in 1943 and was raised and educated in Kent. She was a secondary school teacher between 1965 and 1971, and became a full-time writer in 1974. She wrote over fifty...
|
Thunder and Lightnings Thunder and Lightnings is a children's book, the first novel written by Jan Mark. It won the Penguin Guardian Award for a first children’s book and the Carnegie Medal for 1976...
|
Kestrel |
| 1975 |
Robert Westall Robert Atkinson Westall was the author of many books, mostly children's fiction, though also for adults, and non-fiction. Many of his novels, while supposedly aimed at a teenage audience, deal with many complex, dark and in many ways adult themes...
|
The Machine Gunners The Machine Gunners is a children's historical novel by Robert Westall published in 1975. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal for that year, and in 2007 was selected by judges of the Carnegie Medal as one of the ten most important children's novels of the past 70 years...
|
Macmillan |
| 1974 |
Mollie Hunter Maureen Mollie Hunter McIlwraith, more commonly known as Mollie Hunter , is a Scottish writer. Born and bred near Edinburgh in the small village of Longniddry. She currently resides in Inverness. Her debut was The Smartest Man in Ireland in 1963. She writes fantasy for children, historical stories...
|
The Stronghold The Stronghold is a children's historical novel by Mollie Hunter, set in Orkney in the 1st century BC. It is an imaginative reconstruction of the circumstances leading to the building of the first of the brochs, the circular strongholds which dot the islands...
|
H Hamilton |
| 1973 |
Penelope Lively Penelope Lively CBE, FRSL is a prolific, popular and critically acclaimed author of fiction for both children and adults. She has been shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize, winning once for Moon Tiger in 1987.-Personal:...
|
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe The Ghost of Thomas Kempe is a novel for children by Penelope Lively published in 1973. The novel won the Carnegie Medal in 1973.-Plot summary:...
|
Heinemann |
| 1972 |
Richard Adams |
Watership Down Watership Down is a classic heroic fantasy novel, written by English author Richard Adams, about a small group of rabbits. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language , proverbs, poetry, and mythology...
|
Rex Collings |
| 1971 |
Ivan Southall Ivan Francis Southall AM, DFC was an award-winning Australian writer of young-adult fiction and non-fiction. He was the first and still the only Australian to win the Carnegie Medal in Literature for children's literature. His books include Hills End, Ash Road, Josh, and Let the Balloon Go...
|
Josh Josh is a young adult novel by Ivan Southall, about a clash of cultures. It was the winner of the Carnegie Medal for 1971, the first Australian novel to win the award.-Plot summary:...
|
Angus & Robertson |
| 1970 |
Leon Garfield Leon Garfield was a British writer of fiction. He is best known for his historical novels for children, though he also wrote for adults... & Edward BlishenEdward Blishen was an English author. He is perhaps best known for three books: A Cack-Handed War , a story set in the backdrop of the Second World War, The God Beneath the Sea , a collaboration with Leon Garfield that won the Carnegie Medal and "Roaring Boys",an honest account of teaching in a... , illustrated by Charles KeepingCharles William James Keeping was a British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer. He first came to prominence with his illustrations for Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels for children, and he created more than twenty picture books...
|
The God Beneath the Sea The God Beneath the Sea is a children's novel based on Greek mythology, written by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen with illustrations by Charles Keeping. The God Beneath the Sea was awarded the 1970 Carnegie Medal, and was runner-up for the 1970 Kate Greenaway Medal...
|
Longman |
| 1969 |
K. M. Peyton Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton, who writes as K.M. Peyton is a British author.Born in Birmingham, Peyton has written more than fifty novels, including the much loved Flambards and its sequels for which she won both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award...
|
The Edge of the Cloud The Edge of the Cloud is the second novel in the Flambards sequence by K. M. Peyton. It is set in the years prior to the First World War and has a strong backdrop of aviation as it follows the romance of Christina Parsons and Will Russell...
|
OUP |
| 1968 |
Rosemary Harris Rosemary Jeanne Harris is a British writer of fiction for children.Harris attended school in Weymouth, and then studied at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, the Chelsea School of Art and the Courtauld Institute...
|
The Moon in the Cloud The Moon in the Cloud is a light-hearted children's historical fantasy by Rosemary Harris, first published in 1968. The novel is set in ancient Canaan and Egypt at the time of the Biblical Flood. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal for 1968, and was adapted for television in 1978...
|
Faber |
| 1967 |
Alan Garner With his first book published, Garner abandoned his work as a labourer and gained a job as a freelance television reporter, living a "hand to mouth" lifestyle on a "shoestring" budget...
|
The Owl ServiceThe Owl Service is a novel by Alan Garner first published in 1967. It is a contemporary interpretation, which Garner described as an "expression of the myth", of the story of the mythical Welsh figure of Blodeuwedd, whose story is told in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi.The legend concerns a...
|
Collins |
| 1966 |
Prize withheld as no book considered suitable |
| 1965 |
Philip Turner Philip William Turner is an English author best known for his children's books about the fictional town of Darnley Mills and about the Reverend Septimus Treloar.-Life:...
|
The Grange at High Force The Grange at High Force is a children's novel by Philip Turner, published in 1965. It won the Carnegie Medal for that year. It is the second in the author's Darnley Mills series, set in a mill town in the north of England, between the moors and the sea...
|
OUP |
| 1964 |
Sheena Porter Sheena Porter is a British children's novelist. She received the 1964 Carnegie Medal for Nordy Bank.Sheena Porter has worked as a librarian in Leicester, Nottingham and Shropshire, and currently lives in Ludlow....
|
Nordy Bank Nordy Bank is a children's novel by Sheena Porter, published in 1964. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal for that year.- Plot summary :Six children plan a camping trip in the Easter holidays, deciding on Brown Clee Hill as it is out of the way of summer visitors. They set up camp on the top of the...
|
OUP |
| 1963 |
Hester Burton |
Time of Trial |
OUP |
| 1962 |
Pauline Clarke Pauline Clarke is an English writer who has written for young children under the name Helen Clare, for older children as Pauline Clarke, and more recently for adults under her married name, Pauline Hunter Blair...
|
The Twelve and the GeniiThe Twelve and the Genii is a children's fantasy novel by Pauline Clarke, published in 1962. It was awarded the Carnegie Medal and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis. Its title in the U.S. is The Return of the Twelves...
|
Faber |
| 1961 |
Lucy M. Boston Lucy M. Boston was an English children's writer. She is best known for the six books in the Green Knowe series .-Biography:Boston was born in Southport in Lancashire in 1892 and died in 1990...
|
A Stranger at Green Knowe Green Knowe is a series of six books written by Lucy M. Boston, published between 1954 and 1976. They feature a very old house, Green Knowe, which is based on Boston's then-residence, The Manor in Hemingford Grey, Cambridgeshire. Some books in the series feature a boy called Toseland and his...
|
Faber |
| 1960 |
Dr Ian Wolfram Cornwall |
The Making of Man |
Phoenix House |
| 1959 |
Rosemary Sutcliff Rosemary Sutcliff CBE was a British novelist, and writer for children, best known as a writer of historical fiction and children's literature. Although she was primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults; Sutcliff herself once commented that she wrote...
|
The Lantern Bearers The Lantern Bearers is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1959, with illustrations by Charles Keeping...
|
OUP |
| 1958 |
Philippa Pearce Ann Philippa Pearce OBE was an English children's author.-Early life:The youngest of four children, Pearce was brought up in the Mill House in the village of Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire...
|
Tom's Midnight GardenTom's Midnight Garden is a children's novel by Philippa Pearce. It won the Carnegie Medal in 1958, the year of its publication. It has been adapted for radio, television, the cinema, and the stage.-Plot summary:...
|
OUP |
| 1957 |
William Mayne William James Carter Mayne was an English writer of children's fiction. He was born in Hull, the son of a doctor and was educated at the choir school attached to Canterbury Cathedral and his memories of that time contributed to his early books. During the Second World War the school was evacuated...
|
A Grass Rope A Grass Rope is a children's novel by William Mayne, set in the Yorkshire Dales. It was first published in 1957 and was awarded the Carnegie Medal for that year...
|
OUP |
| 1956 |
C. S. LewisClive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
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The Last BattleThe Last Battle is the seventh and final novel in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. It won the prestigious Carnegie Medal in Literature in 1956.-Plot summary:In The Last Battle, Lewis brings The Chronicles of Narnia to an end...
|
Bodley Head |
| 1955 |
Eleanor Farjeon Eleanor Farjeon was an English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire. Many of her works had charming illustrations by Edward Ardizzone. Some of her correspondence has also been published...
|
The Little Bookroom The Little Bookroom is a collection of twenty-seven stories by Eleanor Farjeon, most in the fairy tale style, chosen by the author to represent the best of her work over the previous thirty years. The collection was first published in 1955, and led to the author being awarded the Carnegie Medal for...
|
OUP |
| 1954 |
Ronald Welch Ronald Welch was the pseudonym of British writer Ronald Oliver Felton TD. He took the name from his wartime regiment. He was for many years Headmaster of Okehampton Grammar School in Devon....
|
Knight Crusader Knight Crusader is a children's historical novel by Ronald Welch, first published in 1954. It is set primarily in the Crusader states of Outremer in the twelfth century and depicts the Battle of Hattin and the Third Crusade...
|
OUP |
| 1953 |
Edward Osmond |
A Valley Grows UpA Valley Grows Up is a history book for children written and illustrated by Edward Osmond. It was first published in 1953. The book follows the changes in an imaginary English valley over the course of seven thousand years, from 5000 BC to 1900...
|
OUP |
| 1952 |
Mary Norton Mary Norton, née Pearson, was an English children's author. Her books include The Borrowers series.-Background:...
|
The BorrowersThe Borrowers, published in 1952, is the first in a series of children's fantasy novels by English author Mary Norton. The novel and its sequels are about tiny people who live in people's homes and "borrow" things to survive while keeping their existence unknown...
|
Dent |
| 1951 |
Cynthia Harnett Cynthia Harnett was a highly acclaimed English writer of children's historical fiction.Known for her exceptional attention to detail and meticulous background research, combined with ingenious and engrossing plots, Harnett wrote only seven novels. The Wool-Pack won the Carnegie Medal in 1951...
|
The Wool-PackThe Wool-Pack is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett. It was first published in 1951, and received the Carnegie Medal for the outstanding children's book of that year.A television adaptation of the novel was broadcast by the BBC in 1970....
|
Methuen |
| 1950 |
Elfrida Vipont Elfrida Vipont was the pen name of Elfrida Vipont Foulds , a British children's author. She was also a schoolteacher and a prominent member of the Society of Friends in England.-Parentage and education:...
|
The Lark on the Wing |
OUP |
| 1949 |
Agnes Allen |
The Story of Your Home The Story of Your Home is a non-fiction book for children about British domestic life and architecture from cave dwellings to blocks of flats. It was written by Agnes Allen and illustrated by the author and her husband Jack...
|
Faber |
| 1948 |
Richard Armstrong Richard Armstrong was an English author who wrote for both adults and children. He was the winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1948 for his book Sea Change. He is also known for a biography of Grace Darling in which he challenges the conventional story: Grace Darling: Maid and Myth...
|
Sea Change Sea Change is a children's novel by Richard Armstrong. A contemporary seafaring adventure set on a cargo ship, it was the winner of the Carnegie Medal for 1948.- Plot introduction :...
|
Dent |
| 1947 |
Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare , OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and the poem "The Listeners"....
|
Collected Stories for Children Collected Stories for Children is a collection of seventeen short stories by Walter de la Mare, published in 1947. The book was awarded the Carnegie Medal for 1947, the first collection of stories to win the award, and the first time that previously published material had been considered.-The...
|
Faber |
| 1946 |
Elizabeth Goudge Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge was an English author of novels, short stories and children's books as Elizabeth Goudge...
|
The Little White Horse The Little White Horse is a children's fantasy novel by Elizabeth Goudge which won the 1946 Carnegie Medal for children's literature. The original edition was illustrated by C. Walter Hodges...
|
University of London Press |
| 1945 |
Prize withheld as no book considered suitable |
| 1944 |
Eric Linklater Eric Robert Russell Linklater was a British writer, known for more than 20 novels, as well as short stories, travel writing and autobiography, and military history.-Life:...
|
The Wind on the Moon The Wind on the Moon is a children's fantasy novel by Eric Linklater. It was first published in 1944, and received the Carnegie Medal for the outstanding children's book of that year.-Plot summary:Major Palfrey is off to war...
|
Macmillan |
| 1943 |
Prize withheld as no book considered suitable |
| 1942 |
'B.B.'Denys James Watkins-Pitchford MBE was a British naturalist, children's writer, and illustrator who wrote under the pseudonym "BB".-Early life:...
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The Little Grey Men The Little Grey Men is a children's novel by Denys Watkins-Pitchford, written under the nom de plume “BB” and illustrated by the author. It was first published in 1942 and has been frequently republished. It tells the exploits of four gnomes, named after the flowers Baldmoney, Sneezewort, Dodder...
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Eyre & Spottiswoode |
| 1941 |
Mary Treadgold Mary Treadgold was a British author who won the Carnegie Medal in 1941 for her children's book We Couldn't Leave Dinah.Treadgold attended St Paul's Girls' School and Bedford College, London...
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We Couldn't Leave Dinah We Couldn't Leave Dinah is a children's novel by Mary Treadgold, published in 1941. It is a contemporary adventure story set on a fictional island in the English Channel during a German occupation...
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Cape |
| 1940 |
Kitty Barne Marion Catherine "Kitty" Barne was a British screenwriter and writer of children's books, especially on music and musical themes....
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Visitors from London Visitors from London is a children's novel by Kitty Barne, published in 1940. It deals with the then highly topical subject of evacuees. The novel was awarded the Carnegie Medal for 1940.-Plot summary:...
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Dent |
| 1939 |
Eleanor Doorly Victoria Eleanor Louise Doorly was an award-winning British writer of children's books. She was born in Jamaica as the daughter of William Anton Doorly and Louise Brown, but moved to England upon the premature death of her father in 1887...
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The Radium Woman The Radium Woman is a biography of the scientist Marie Curie written for children by Eleanor Doorly. It was published in 1939 and was the first non-fiction book to be awarded the Carnegie Medal. Woodcuts by Robert Gibbings illustrated each chapter...
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Heinemann |
| 1938 |
Noel Streatfeild Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE , known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author, most famous for her children's books including Ballet Shoes . Several of her novels have been adapted for film or television.-Biography:...
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The Circus Is Coming |
Dent |
| 1937 |
Eve Garnett Eve Garnett was an English author and illustrator. She was educated at two schools in Devon and at the Alice Ottley School in Worcester...
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The Family from One End Street The Family From One End Street, written and illustrated by Eve Garnett, is an English children's book. Set in Otwell, a town resembling Lewes, it was published in 1937 by Frederick Muller. It won a Carnegie Medal for best children's book that same year, despite competition which included J. R. R....
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Muller |
| 1936 |
Arthur RansomeArthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist, best known for writing the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. These tell of school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Many of the books involve sailing; other common subjects...
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Pigeon PostPigeon Post is the sixth book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books, published in 1936. It won the first Carnegie Medal awarded for children's literature....
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Cape |
Note: Since 2007 the year relates to when the medal was awarded. Previously the year refers to the publication date of the books.
For the 70th Anniversary of the Carnegie Medal CILIP ran an online poll to find the nation's favourite Carnegie Medal winning book of all time. The poll was launched on 20 April, and the winner -
The shortlist of ten medal winning novels was as follows (the bracketed date refers to the year of first publication):