AUTHOR Roddy Doyle is in the running for children's book prize the Carnegie Medal after being shortlisted against Costa Children's Book Award winner Sally Gardner.

Doyle could pull off a rare feat by winning both the Booker Prize and the Carnegie – which has been done only once before.

This year's winner is due to be announced on June 19.

Doyle, who won the Booker in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, is nominated for A Greyhound Of A Girl – an Irish family saga spanning four decades.

Gardner collected her Costa prize for the book Maggot Moon.