Lauren Child in running for repeat Carnegie medal after 25 years | Books

Lauren Child has been shortlisted for this year’s Carnegie medal for illustration, 25 years after she won the same award for her first Charlie and Lola picture book.

The former children’s laureate is up for the prestigious children’s book prize for her illustration of Grey by Laura Dockrill, which aims to help young readers understand and navigate their feelings.

Also in contention is Yu Rong, known for her use of traditional Chinese paper-cutting, for her illustration of Flying High by Cao Wenxuan, translated by Simone-Davina Monnelly and Jake Hope. This marks the third time the Chinese illustrator has been shortlisted for the award.

Meanwhile, three authors have been shortlisted for the Carnegie medal for writing for the second time: Brian Conaghan for his story of a teenage gang member who finds an escape via poetry, Treacle Town; Luke Palmer for Play, which follows four boys as they navigate society’s expectations of what it means to be a man; and Nathanael Lessore for his tale of a “bad boy” who forms an unlikely friendship, King of Nothing.

“It’s testament to Lessore’s lightness of touch and believable characters that despite delving into big topics such as toxic masculinity and grief, this is an immensely readable book that never feels too worthy,” wrote Fiona Noble, reviewing King of Nothing in the Observer.

The only debut on the medal for writing shortlist is Glasgow Boys by former NHS worker Margaret McDonald, a young adult novel that follows the precarious friendship between two boys growing up in foster care. The judges praised the novel’s “tenderness” and “hope” in a story examining identity “in all its complexity”.

Both categories are judged by a panel of librarians and the winners will each receive a specially commissioned gold medal and a £5,000 cash prize. The winners of the Shadowers’ choice medals – voted for by thousands of children’s reading groups in schools and libraries in the UK and around the world – will also receive a gold medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.

This year’s chair of judges Ros Harding said this year’s shortlists “highlight the diversity and high quality within publishing for children and young people in the UK”.

Masculinity was a common theme this year, explored in Conaghan, Lessore, Palmer and McDonald’s novels, as well as in Matt Goodfellow’s The Final Year, a verse novel about a boy in his last year of primary school whose teacher encourages him to use reading and writing as a way to process anger and find his voice. Guardian reviewer Imogen Russell Williams described it as “profoundly moving”, while the judges praised it for managing to be both “heartbreaking” and “joyful”.

Identity and self-acceptance were also explored across both shortlists, with Theo Parish’s debut Homebody, a graphic novel about being transgender and the importance of living authentically, up for the illustration medal. In her Guardian review, Russell Williams remarked that “its soft greys and pinks and joyful emphasis on self-discovery will appeal to Heartstopper fans”.

“Innovative” illustration was praised by the judges, who were impressed by the “sheer variety” of styles, including watercolours, pastels and collage used by Olivia Lomenech Gill in her illustration of Clever Crow, written by Chris Butterfield, a nonfiction picture book for budding bird enthusiasts.

Making up the illustration shortlist are The Invisible Story, illustrated by Wen Hsu Chen, written by Jaime Gamboa and translated by Daniel Hahn; I Love Books, illustrated and written by Mariajo Ilustrajo; Letters in Charcoal, illustrated by Juan Palomino, written by Irene Vasco and translated by Lawrence Schimel and Wolf and Bear, illustrated and written by Kate Rolfe.

The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss, Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain and All That It Ever Meant by Blessing Musariri complete the shortlist for the writing medal.

Both winners will be announced on 19 June at a live and streamed ceremony at the Cambridge theatre in London, home of Matilda the Musical.