Congratulations to the following authors, illustrators and publishers on being recognised on this year’s lists. Shortlists will be announced on March 30. Check local branch websites and social media for events discussing these lists, and join us to celebrate the diversity of books written for children and young adults. Links on titles are to reviews on Reading Time.
At the National CBCA website, there are links to PDFs of all books and categories.
Book of the Year: Older Readers
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for readers in their secondary years of schooling. Ages 13 – 18 years.
Note: Books in this category are for mature readers.
| Author | Book Title | Publisher | ISBN |
| Rawah Arja | The F Word | Giramondo Publishing | 9781925818543 |
| Asphyxia | Future Girl | Allen & Unwin | 9781760294373 |
| Davina Bell | The End of the World is Bigger than Love | Text Publishing | 9781922268822 |
| Alex Dyson | When it Drops | Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing | 9781760505042 |
| Sarah Epstein | Deep Water | Allen & Unwin | 9781760877286 |
| Zana Fraillon | The Lost Soul Atlas | Hachette Australia | 9780734419934 |
| Jane Godwin | When Rain Turns to Snow | Hachette Australia | 9780734420053 |
| Barry Jonsberg | Catch Me if I Fall | Allen & Unwin | 9781760877613 |
| Kay Kerr | Please Don’t Hug Me | Text Publishing | 9781922268051 |
| Cath Moore | Metal Fish, Falling Snow | Text Publishing | 9781922330079 |
| Anna Morgan | Before the Beginning | Hachette Publishing | 9780734419651 |
| Christie Nieman | Where We Begin | Pan Macmillan Australia | 9781743535660 |
| Garth Nix | The Left-Handed Booksellers of London | Allen & Unwin | 9781760631246 |
| Anna Whateley | Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal | Allen & Unwin | 9781760525309 |
| Georgina Young | Loner | Text Publishing | 9781922330130 |
Book of the Year: Younger Readers
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for readers from the middle to upper primary years. 7 – 12 years.
Note: Some of the titles in this category may only be suitable for readers who are in the upper primary years as they may contain mature themes, including violence. Parental guidance is recommended.
| Author & Illustrator | Book Title | Publisher | ISBN | |
| Danielle Binks | The Year the Maps Changed | Hachette Australia | 9780734419712 | |
| Kate Constable | The January Stars | Allen & Unwin | 9781760525026 | |
| Kate Gordon | Aster’s Good and Right Things Maura Pierlot’s review | Riveted Press | 9780648492573 | |
| Kate Gordon | The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn | University of Queensland Press | 9780702262821 | |
| Steven Herrick | Zoe, Max and the Bicycle Bus | University of Queensland Press | 9780702263002 | |
| Bren MacDibble | Across the Risen Sea | Allen & Unwin | 9781760526054 | |
| Amelia Mellor | The Grandest Bookshop in the World | Affirm Press | 9781925972955 | |
| Jessica Miller | The Republic of Birds | Text Publishing | 9781922268044 | |
| Jaclyn Moriarty [illus] Kelly Canby | The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst | Allen & Unwin | 9781925266641 | |
| Sally Murphy [illus] Sarah Davis | Worse Things | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651657 | |
| Katrina Nannestad | We are Wolves | HarperCollins Publishers | 9780733340888 | |
| Julianne Negri | The Secret Library of Hummingbird House | Affirm Press | 9781925870497 | |
| Alison Rushby | When this Bell Rings | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651947 | |
| Pam Rushby | The Mummy Smugglers of Crumblin Castle | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651930 | |
| Kirli Saunders [illus] Dub Leffler | Bindi | Magabala Books | 9781925936667 | |
| Claire Saxby | Haywire | Scholastic Australia | 9781742769196 | |
| A L Tait | The Fire Star | Penguin Random House Australia | 9781760897079 | |
| Dee White | Beyond Belief | Scholastic Australia | 9781760662516 | |
| Sue Whiting | The Book of Chance | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651367 | |
| Sean Williams | Her Perilous Mansion | Allen & Unwin | 9781760877361 |
Book of the Year: Early Childhood
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for children who are at pre-reading or early stages of reading. Ages 0 – 6 years.
| Author | Illustrator | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
| Deborah Abela | Marjorie Crosby-Fairall | Bear in Space | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651510 |
| Sarah Allen | Busy Beaks | Affirm Press | 9781925972948 | |
| Bronwyn Bancroft | Coming Home to Country | Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing | 9781760501921 | |
| Ashleigh Barton | Martina Heiduczek | What Do You Call Your Grandpa? | HarperCollins Publishers | 9780733340864 |
| John Canty | Shapes and Colours | Berbay Publishing | 9780648529187 | |
| Libby Gleeson | Jedda Robaard | Soon | Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing | 9781760501235 |
| Jane Godwin | Sara Acton | I’ll Always Be Older Than You | Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing | 9781760129781 |
| Bernadette Green | Anna Zobel | Who’s Your Real Mum? | Scribble Kids’ Books | 9781925849493 |
| Penny Harrison | Evie Barrow | Me and My Boots | Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing | 9781760502331 |
| Libby Hathorn & Lisa Hathorn-Jarman | Mel Pearce | No! Never! | Hachette Australia | 9780734418906 |
| Kate Knapp | Ruby Red Shoes: My Wonderful Grandmother | HarperCollins Australia | 9781460758885 | |
| Frané Lessac | Australia Under the Sea 1, 2, 3 | Walker Books Australia | 9781760652272 | |
| Anna McGregor | Anemone is Not the Enemy | Scribble Kids’ Books | 9781922310118 | |
| Heidi McKinnon | There’s No Such Thing | Allen & Unwin | 9781760877279 | |
| Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson | Lisa Kennedy | Respect | Magabala Books | 9781925936315 |
| Briony Stewart | We Love You, Magoo | Penguin Random House Australia | 9781760896904 | |
| Zeno Sworder | This Small Blue Dot | Thames & Hudson | 9781760761110 | |
| Kate & Jol Temple | Ronojoy Ghosh | Bin Chicken | Scholastic Australia | 9781743830048 |
| Margaret Wild | Judith Rossell | Pink! | HarperCollins Australia | 9781460757499 |
| Rhian Williams | Nathaniel Eckstrom | Ten Little Figs | Walker Books Australia | 9781921977312 |
The Picture Book of the Year.
Entries in this category should be outstanding books of the Picture Book genre in which the author and illustrator achieve artistic and literary unity or, in wordless texts, where the story, theme or concept is unified through the illustrations. Ages 0 – 18. Note: Some books may be for mature readers).
Arranged by illustrator
| Illustrator | Author | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
| Tamsin Ainslie | Edwina Wyatt | Sometimes Cake | Walker Books Australia | 9781760650421 |
| Liz Anelli | Sue Lawson | The Biscuit Maker | Walker Books Australia | 9781760650438 |
| Evie Barrow | Maggie Hutchings | I Saw Pete and Pete Saw Me | Affirm Press | 9781925972825 |
| Freya Blackwood | The Unwilling Twin | HarperCollins Australia | 9781460757536 | |
| Nick Bland | Wolfred | Hardie Grant Children’s Books | 9781760505660 | |
| Phil Bunting | Give Me Some Space | Scholastic Publishing | 9781760972356 | |
| Phil Bunting | Not Cute. | Scholastic Publishing | 9781760972387 | |
| Phil Bunting | Who Am I? | Scholastic Publishing | 9781743835043 | |
| Phil Bunting | Wombat | Scholastic Publishing | 9781760972370 | |
| Kelly Canby | Littlelight | Fremantle Press | 9781925815764 | |
| Gabriel Evans | Norton and the Bear | Berbay Publishing | 9780648785132 | |
| Bob Graham | Ellie’s Dragon | Walker Books Australia | 9781406387629 | |
| Armin Greder | Diamonds | Allen & Unwin | 9781760877040 | |
| Alison Lester | Jane Godwin | Sing Me the Summer | Affirm Press | 9781925972924 |
| Chris McKimmie | Colin Cockroach Goes to Caloundra | Ford Street Publishing | 9781925804546 | |
| Christopher Nielson | Nicole Godwin | Jelly-Boy | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651237 |
| Matt Ottley | Meg McKinlay | How to Make a Bird | Walker Books Australia | 9781925381894 |
| Felicita Sala | Maggie Hutchings | Your Birthday Was the Best! | Affirm Press | 9781925972535 |
| Danny Snell | Jackie French | The Fire Wombat | HarperCollins Australia | 9781460759332 |
| Hannah Sommerville | Mike Dumbleton | Anisa’s Alphabet | Midnight Sun Publishing | 9781925227574 |
| Scott Stuart | My Shadow is Pink | Larrikin House | 9780648728757 | |
| Jane Tanner | Margaret Wild | Girl From the Sea | Allen & Unwin | 9781760524302 |
| Anna Walker | Hello Jimmy! | Penguin Random House Australia | 9781760893422 | |
| Annie White | Sue Whiting | Good Question: A Tale Told Backwards | Walker Books Australia | 9781760650841 |
| Anna Zobel | Bernadette Green | Who’s Your Real Mum? | Scribble Kids’ Books | 9781925849493 |
The Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
Entries in this category should be books which have the prime intention of documenting factual material with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and variation of style. Ages 0 – 18 years.
| Author | Illustrator | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
| Sami Bayly | The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals | Hachette Australia | 9780734420015 | |
| Maree Coote | Azaria: A True History | Melbournestyle Books | 9780648568407 | |
| Jennifer Cossins | The Daddy Animal Book | Hachette Australia | 9780734419873 | |
| Jennifer Cossins | The Mummy Animal Book | Hachette Australia | 9780734419897 | |
| Pamela Freeman | Liz Anelli | Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu | Walker Books Australia | 9781760650285 |
| David Hartley & Kirsty Murray | Dub Leffler | Strangers on Country | National Library of Australia | 9780642279552 |
| Felice Jacka | Rob Craw | There’s a Zoo in my Poo | Pan Macmillan Australia | 9781760783044 |
| Andrew Kelly | Mark Jackson & Heather Potter | Little Lon | Wild Dog Books | 9781742035970 |
| Sandra Kendall | Saltie Mumma | Windy Hollow Books | 9781922081889 | |
| Gina M Newton | Rachel Tribout | Hold On! Saving the Spotted Handfish | CSIRO Publishing | 9781486311842 |
| Stephanie Owen Reeder | Tania McCartney | Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather | National Library of Australia | 9780642279637 |
| Stephanie Owen Reeder | Will the Wonderkid: Treasure Hunter of the Australian Outback | National Library of Australia | 9780642279521 | |
| Shirley Purdie | Shirley Purdie: My Story, Ngaginybe Jarragbe | Magabala Books | 9781925936131 | |
| Claire Saxby | Tannya Harricks | Kookaburra | Walker Books Australia | 9781760651060 |
| Carole Wilkinson | Prue Pittock | Matthew Flinders – Adventures on Leaky Ships | Wild Dog Books | 9781742034935 |
