From a picture book about a father and son’s hike into the mountains, to the story of an exhausted lion that captures the majesty of nature, the books in the running for the UK’s oldest children’s book awards this year have been praised for “offering hope and escapism during lockdown”. The Cilip Carnegie medal, for the best children’s novel, and the Kate Greenaway medal, for the best children’s illustrator, have been running since 1936 and 1955 respectively. Judged by children’s librarians, previous winners of the Carnegie range from Arthur Ransome to Philip Pullman, while the Kate Greenaway has gone to some of the UK’s best-loved illustrators, from Shirley Hughes to Quentin Blake. Eight titles have been shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway medal. Previous winner Catherine Rayner is nominated for Arlo the Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep, alongside Pete Oswald’s Hike; Poonam Mistry’s How The Stars Came to Be, a tale about the formation of the night sky; and Sharon King-Cha’s Starbird, a fable about freedom and love, that is packed with images of nature, as are many of the shortlisted titles. “With themes of freedom, the great outdoors and journeys through the natural world, we hope the outstanding books on this year’s shortlists will inspire and empower young readers, offering hope and escapism during lockdown,” said chair of judges Ellen Krajewski. Rayner, the author and illustrator of Arlo, said she wanted to create “a book that would not only be beautiful, but would also help children with falling asleep, anxiety and mindfulness without it being too much of a overbearing message. “Anxiety is not a new thing, although it’s more prevalent today than it has ever been for young people, and I think they’ve been more affected than any of us will ever realise by the pandemic,” she said. “Reading it to my kids, the book does exactly what I want to do. It calms them down, takes them away from the screen, and prepares them for rest and relaxation. I wanted it to have a real feeling of space.” Many of the titles shortlisted for the Carnegie also tackle themes of freedom and space. Jason Reynolds, the US national ambassador for young people’s literature, is nominated for Look Both Ways, which tells stories about the adventures of children walking home unsupervised from school. Manjeet Mann is nominated for her debut verse novel Run, Rebel, in which a girl escapes an arranged marriage. Sara Lundberg makes the cut for The Bird Within Me, about a girl who feels she cannot escape from her family responsibilities. And previous winner Elizabeth Acevedo is shortlisted for Clap When You Land, about two girls who lose their father. The winners of both awards will be announced on 16 June. 2021 Carnegie Medal shortlist Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (Hot Key Books) The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson, illustrated by Kathrin Honesta (Usborne) The Girl Who Became a Tree by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books) On Midnight Beach by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick (Faber) Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s) Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds (Knights Of) The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (PRH Children’s) Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk (PRH Children’s) 2021 Kate Greenaway medal shortlist Starbird, illustrated and written by Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots) The Bird Within Me, illustrated by Sara Lundberg and translated by BJ Epstein (Book Island) It’s a No-Money Day, illustrated and written by Kate Milner (Barrington Stoke) How the Stars Came to Be, illustrated and written by Poonam Mistry (Tate Publishing) Hike, illustrated and written by Pete Oswald (Walker Books) I Go Quiet, illustrated and written by David Ouimet (Canongate) Arlo the Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep, illustrated and written by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan Children’s Books) Small in the City, illustrated and written by Sydney Smith (Walker Books)