The winners of the 2019 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.

The winners will each receive £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice, a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal has been awarded to The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X is slam poetry champion Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut novel. It follows Xiomara, a young girl who, while tough-talking and free with her fists on the streets, has a secret notebook of poetry hidden under her bed. In her acceptance speech, Acevedo said, ‘I think we should have poetry in every room as much as possible, and because I fundamentally believe in Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s words that children’s literature should be a mirror and a window.’

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal has been awarded to The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane, illustrated by Jackie Morris

Through acrostic poems by Robert Macfarlane and exquisite, hand-painted illustrations by Jackie Morris, The Lost Words explores and captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages. In her acceptance speech, Jackie Morris said ‘It seems to me that artists, writers, musicians have one job at the moment – to help to tell the truth about what is happening to this small and fragile world we inhabit, to re-engage with the natural world, to inspire and to imagine better ways to live.’

Both books are also winners of the 2019 Shadowers’ Choice Awards. With 2019 marking the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, chair of judges Alison Brumwell praised the immeasurable, lasting impact children’s books and illustration have on our minds, both as young people and later as adults.