Congratulations to Joseph Coelho, the current children's laureate, who has won the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing for his spellbinding YA novel, The Boy Lost in the Maze, illustrated by Kate Milner.
The novel, in verse, blends the ancient myth of Theseus and the Minotaur with the quest of a modern-day teen in search of his father.
In his acceptance speech, Coelho paid tribute to librarians. "...The Boy Lost in the Maze is a novel that means a great deal to me and so to have it recognised by the UK’s, if not the world’s, most prestigious award for children’s literature feels particularly special... The one thing that has been consistent between all libraries has been the passion, skill and creativity of the librarians,” he said. “I feel completely honoured that it is librarians who have deemed The Boy Lost in the Maze as worthy of a Carnegie medal.”
During his tenure as laureate, Joseph Coelho has joined a library in every local authority in the UK.
Congratulations also go to Aaron Becker who was named the winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration for his mesmerising wordless picture book showing the power of nature and human civilisation, The Tree and the River.
Winning the prize is “an honour and a testament to the power of wordless books”, Becker said. “Within the pages of my wordless books, I invite readers to slow down and interpret stories on their own terms. My hope is that winning this award promotes the idea that books can be for anyone, even the reluctant readers among us for whom story resonates more deeply through imagery than words.”