The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) have announced their 2021 shortlist, acknowledging unique Australian stories for younger readers, over six categories.
The CBCA is a not-for-profit and volunteer organisation with the aim of engaging young Australians with books written for them. The Book of the Year award is considered Australia’s most prestigious children’s literature award, and is presented in six categories – Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Book of the Year, Eve Pownall Award, and the Award for New Illustrator, which is the only award of its kind in Australia.
The finalists will be announced 12PM AEST on Friday 16 August, followed by CBCA’s 2021 Book Week, which has the theme of ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’. In the meantime, check out the shortlist below.
Book of the Year: Older Readers (13-18 years)
|
Davina Bell (Melbourne, VIC) |
The End of the World is Bigger than Love |
Text Publishing |
|
Zana Fraillon (Melbourne, VIC) |
The Lost Soul Atlas |
Hachette Australia |
|
Jane Godwin (Melbourne, VIC) |
When Rain Turns to Snow |
Hachette Australia |
|
Cath Moore (Melbourne, VIC) |
Metal Fish, Falling Snow |
Text Publishing |
|
Christie Nieman (Dja Dja Wurrung country) |
Where We Begin |
Pan Macmillan Australia |
|
Anna Whateley (Brisbane, QLD) |
Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal |
Allen & Unwin |
Book of the Year: Younger Readers (6-12 years)
|
Kate Gordon (Hobart, TAS) |
Aster’s Good, Right Things |
Riveted Press |
|
Jaclyn Moriarty (Sydney, NSW) / illus. by Kelly Canby (Perth, WA) |
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst |
Allen & Unwin |
|
Sally Murphy (Dalyellup, WA) / illus. by Sarah Davis (Sydney, NSW) |
Worse Things |
Walker Books Australia |
|
Katrina Nannestad (Central Victoria) |
We Are Wolves |
HarperCollins Publishers |
|
Kirli Saunders (Wollongong, NSW) / illus. by Dub Leffler (Sydney, NSW) |
Bindi |
Magabala Books |
|
Sue Whiting (South Sydney, NSW) |
The Book of Chance |
Walker Books Australia |
Book of the Year: Early Childhood (0-6 Years)
|
Sarah Allen (Melbourne, VIC) |
Busy Beaks |
Affirm Press |
|
Bernadette Green / illus. by Anna Zobel (both Melbourne, VIC) |
Who’s Your Real Mum? |
Scribble Kids’ Books |
|
Libby Hathorn (Sydney, NSW) & Lisa Hathorn-Jarman / illus. by Mel Pearce (Perth, WA) |
No! Never! |
Hachette Australia |
|
Anna McGregor (Melbourne, VIC) |
Anemone is not the Enemy |
Scribble Kids’ Books |
|
Heidi McKinnon (Melbourne, VIC) |
There’s No Such Thing |
Allen & Unwin |
|
Briony Stewart (Fremantle, WA) |
We Love You, Magoo |
Penguin Random House Australia |
|
Freya Blackwood (Orange, NSW) |
The Unwilling Twin |
HarperCollins Publishers |
|
Philip Bunting (Sunshine Coast, QLD) |
Not Cute. |
Scholastic Australia |
|
Gabriel Evans (Perth, WA) |
Norton and the Bear |
Berbay Publishing |
|
Bob Graham (Melbourne, VIC) |
Ellie’s Dragon |
Walker Books Australia |
|
Matt Ottley (Northern NSW) / text by Meg McKinlay (Fremantle, WA) |
How to Make a Bird |
Walker Books Australia |
|
Felicita Sala (Rome, Italy) / text by Maggie Hutchings (Northern NSW) |
Your Birthday Was the Best! |
Affirm Press |
CBCA Award for New Illustrator (0-18 Years)
|
Sofya Karmazina (Sydney, NSW) |
Ribbit Rabbit Robot |
Scholastic Australia |
|
Mel Pearce (Perth, WA) |
No! Never! |
Hachette Australia |
|
Dave Petzold (Northern NSW) |
Seven Seas of Fleas |
Starfish Bay Publishing |
|
Shirley Purdie (Warmun, WA) |
Shirley Purdie: My Story, Ngaginybe Jarragbe |
Magabala Books |
|
Zeno Sworder (Melbourne, VIC) |
This Small Blue Dot |
Thames & Hudson Australia |
|
Robin Tatlow-Lord (Adelaide, SA) |
Go Away, Worry Monster! |
EK Books |
