We’re pleased to announce this year’s Children’s Book Council shortlist! The 2016 feature includes 31 books varying in age range and prize eligibility. The Children’s Book Council of Australia will award five prizes, one for each of the following categories: older readers, younger readers, early childhood, picture books, and information texts.
Keeping the ball rolling on this whole diversity trend this year (when should it ever not be a trend?) the spectrum of books isn’t just the hum drum of flowers and baby cub characters we’re used to, but wholly topical to the fantastic dreams of children and the hard questions they often ask their parents. From toddlers to preteens, the scope of the list shows an evolving face for the world of children’s lit.
Check them all out below!
Book of the Year Award: Older Readers
The Pause, by John Larkin
A Single Stone, by Meg McKinlay
Inbetween Days, by Vikki Wakefield
Cloudwish, by Fiona Wood
Book of the Year Award: Young Readers
The Cleo Stories: A Friend and a Pet, by Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood
Soon, by Morris Gleitzman
Molly and Pim and the Millions of Stars, by Martine Murray
Shadows of the Master, by Emily Rodda
Book of the Year Award: Early Childhood
Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas, by Aaron Blabey
Ollie and the Wind, by Ronojoy Ghosh
My Dog Bigsy, by Alison Lester
Perfect, by Danny Parker and Freya Blackwood
Mr. Huff, by Anna Walker
The Cow Tipped Over the Moon, by Tony Wilson
Picture Book of the Year
Ride, by Shane Devries and Phil Cummings
My Dead Bunny, by James Foley and Sigi Cohen
Flight, by Armin Greder and Nadia Wheatley
One Step at a Time, by Sally Einrich and Jane Jolly
Suri’s Wall, by Matt Ottley and Lucy Estela
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, by Bruce Whatley and Eric Bogle
Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
Phasmid, by Rohan Cleave and Carol Tulloch
The White Mouse: The Story of Nancy Wake, by Peter Gould Thorpe
The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made, by Fiona Katauskas
Lennie the Legend: Solo to Sydney by Pony, by Stephanie Owen Reeder
Ancestry: Stories of Multicultural Anzacs, by Robyn Siers and Carlie Walker
We are the Rebels: the Men and Women who Made Eureka, by Clare Wright
Crichton Award for New Illustrators
The Underwater Fancy Dress Parade, by Allison Colpoys
The Cat with the Coloured Tail, by Dinalie Dabarera,
My Gallipoli, by Robert Hannaford
Meet Weary Dunlop, by Jeremy Lord
Images courtesy of Cockburn Libraries and Huffington Post.