Northern Lights and Dogger voted the public's favourite CILIP Carnegie & Greenaway winners
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News from CILIP
22 June 2007
At the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenway Anniversary party last night Mariella Frostrup declared the nation's favourite medal winning books to be Philip Pullman's 'Northern Lights' and Shirley Hughes' 'Dogger'.
Pullman received 40% of the total Carnegie votes cast by the public in the on-line poll and wins a specially commissioned 70th Anniversary Medal.
"This accolade is an enormous pleasure to receive," says Pullman. "I want to thank everyone who voted for 'Northern Lights' and in particular to thank the librarians who awarded me the Medal in the first place. It is without any question the most important honour I have ever received, and the one I treasure the most. I am humbled and honoured that 'Northern Lights' has been chosen from among so many wonderful books."
"Personally I feel they got the initials right but not the name," continues Pullman. "I don't know if the result would be the same in a hundred year's time; maybe Philippa Pearce would win then. All we do know is that librarians will continue to choose well and to celebrate the best of writing for children and young people."
With 70 past winners in contention for the Carnegie and 50 for the Greenaway, a panel of children's experts selected a Top 10 from each medal's backlist. On 20 April the Top 10s online public poll was launched at Seven Stories Children's Book Centre in Newcastle. Since when, CILIP's dedicated Carnegie & Greenaway website at www.ckg.org.uk has been buzzing daily as thousands cast their votes.
"It was clear that Pullman was in the lead from early on," says Top 10 judge, and Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas. "The competition was formidable: the Top 10 list includes some of the greatest children's writing of the 20th & 21st centuries. However Pullman's 'Northern Lights' is a deserving winner. The Dark Materials Trilogy is imaginative, intelligent story telling of outstanding quality: these books have redefined children's literature and changed the way we think and talk about children's books. They are classics."
The first book in the Dark Materials Trilogy 'Northern Lights' won the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 1995. Pullman's books have sold over 12 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 37 languages. The first of the film adaptations of the Trilogy, The Golden Compass, will be launched in December this year and stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
The final voting for the Greenaway of Greenaways was very close. 'Dogger' took 26% of the votes with Janet & Allan Ahlberg's 'Each Peach Pear Plum' beaten into second place by a whisker with 25% of the total votes cast. In third place came 'I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato' by Lauren Child with 18% of the votes.
"I loved writing and illustrating the story of Dogger all those years ago, but I never dreamed that it would achieve any kind of longevity, let alone an honour like this one", says Shirley Hughes. "It is a staggering shortlist with work on it which I deeply admire and I am simply bowled over to have won".
"The closeness of the vote reflects the fact that all ten of these titles are absolute classics: books which in their day, helped to redefine what children's picture books can do" says Top 10 judge and Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas. "All ten books continue to be widely read, discussed and enjoyed by children and their carers today, confirming that the CILIP Kate Greenaway has long been, and continues to be the arbiter of quality in children's book illustration for every generation of reader".
First published in 1977, 'Dogger' is the heart-warming tale which speaks to every young child. When Dave loses his favourite toy, he is desolate. But then when Dogger turns up on a stall at the garden fête, everything seems to be turning out alright - until someone buys him before Dave can get enough money together. Luckily Dave's big sister Bella steps in to save the day.
Shirley Hughes OBE is one of the UK's most celebrated children's book illustrators. She has written and illustrated over 200 books in the course of her long and illustrious career, and has twice won the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. Shirley's latest book is 'Alfie and the Big Boys', due to be published on 2nd August 2007 by The Bodley Head.
For more information about the awards, the winners and the anniversaries visit: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/pressdesk/
Contact:
Mark Taylor, Marketing Executive
Tel: 020 7255 0654 Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk
The 10 CILIP Carnegie Medal Winners in contention were:
Skellig David Almond (1998)
Junk Melvin Burgess (1996)
Storm Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985)
A Gathering Light Jennifer Donnelly (2003)
The Owl Service Alan Garner (1967)
The Family From One End Street Eve Garnett (1937)
The Borrowers Mary Norton (1952)
Tom's Midnight Garden Philippa Pearce (1958)
Northern Lights Philip Pullman (1995)
The 10 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Winners in contention were:
Each Peach Pear Plum Janet Ahlberg (1978)
Tim All Alone Edward Ardizzone (1956)
Mr Magnolia Quentin Blake (1980)
Father Christmas Raymond Briggs (1973)
Gorilla Anthony Browne (1983)
Borka John Burningham (1963)
I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato Lauren Child (2000)
Dogger Shirley Hughes (1977)
The Highwayman Charles Keeping (1981)
Alice in Wonderland Helen Oxenbury (1999)
CILIP Carnegie Kate Greenaway Shadowing Scheme
Over 3,000 reading groups in schools and public libraries have registered to take part in the shadowing scheme for the awards, involving over 60,000 children and young people. For further information visit www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing
About CILIP
CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It forms a community of around 35,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 22,000 are CILIP Members and around 13,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises. CILIP members work in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries.
The YLG
The Youth Libraries Group (YLG) is a Special Interest Group of CILIP. It works in a "pressure group" role, independently and with other professional organisations, to preserve and influence the provision of quality literature and library services for children and young people, both in public libraries and school library services.
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Updated: 24 January 2008