IRISH author Steve McCarthy has made the shortlist for this year’s Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration.
The illustrator, who hails from Dublin, is nominated for his debut author/illustrator title The Wilderness.
Released in 2023, the picture book explores nature and the environment as it follows the adventures of central character Oktober, whose outdoorsy family drag him out on a trek.
Steve McCarthy has been shortlisted for the prestigious Yoto Carnegie awardDescribing it as “impressive”, the Yoto Carnegie judges praised the “wealth of detail to discover on each spread” in McCarthy’s book.
It is one of 16 titles which have been shortlisted for this year’s Yoto Carnegies, which celebrate “outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration” and are judged entirely by librarians.
There are two medals up for grabs, the Carnegie Medal for Writing and Carnegie Medal for Illustration.
Some 16 books have been shortlisted in total, with eight in each category, whittled down from 36 longlisted titles by the 12-librarian judging panel.
“The judges have worked incredibly hard to select 16 outstanding books; books that celebrate the very best of writing and illustration for children and young people,” Maura Farrelly, Chair of Judges for The Yoto Carnegies 2024, said.
“These are books to empower young readers, and for some will provide validation and refuge; stories of courage, of characters striving to find themselves and their place in the world, often in difficult or dangerous situation,” she added.
Steve McCarthy's The Wilderness was released in 2023Children’s laureate Joseph Coelho, Kwame Alexander, Catherine Rayner and Nicola Davies are among those shortlisted for the awards, the winners of which will be announced at a ceremony due to be held on June 20.
The winners will each receive a specially commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 Colin Mears Award cash prize.
