Last night the Notables list for the CBCA Book of the Year was announced, with the longlist and shortlist to come within the next few months. There are five categories announced each year for the notables and they are:
- Older Readers
- Younger Readers
- Early Childhood
- Picture Book
- Eve Pownall Award
There are usually six categories, with all but one announced as a notable and honour prize – the CBCA Award for New Illustrator, which can be a smaller category.
- CBCA Book of the Year: Older Readers
- CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers
- CBCA Book of the Year: Early Childhood
- CBCA Picture Book of the Year
- Eve Pownall Award
- CBCA Award for New Illustrator
The shortlist is announced at noon on the 19th of March 2024, and the winners and Honours are announced on the 16th of August 2024.
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 and some may deal with particularly challenging themes including violence and suicide. Parental guidance is recommended.
I have read several of these books and am planning to read several more this year.
A Hunger of Thorns by Lili Wilkinson
Blind Spot by Robyn Dennison
Borderland by Graham Akhurst
Eleanor Jones is not a Murderer by Amy Doak
Eta Draconis by Brendan Ritchie
Grace Notes by Karen Comer
I Am the Mau and Other Stories by Chemutai Glasheen
If You Tell Anyone You’re Next by Jack Heath
Inkflower by Suzy Zail
Let’s Never Speak of this Again by Megan Williams
Nightbirds by Kate J Armstrong
One Song by AJ Betts
Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth by Anna Fienberg
Stuck up and Stupid by Angourie Rice and Kate Rice
The Isle of Gods by Amie Kaufman
The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix
This Time is Real by Ann Liang
Two Can Play at That Game by Leanne Yong
We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis
We Didn’t Think it Through by Gary Lonesborough
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 contain mature themes, including violence. Parental guidance is recommended.
Aggie Flea is Not a Liar by Tania Ingram
Being Jimmy Baxter by Fiona Lloyd
Bored: Evie Dreams Big by Matt Stanton
Dirrarn by Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler
Meet Me at the Moon Tree by Shivaun Plozza
Ming and Hilde Lead a Revolution by Jackie French
Pearly and Pig and the Lost City of Mu Savan by Sue Whiting
Real Pigeons Flap Out by Andrew McDonald
Running with Ivan by Suzanne Leal
Scar Town by Tristan Bancks
Scout and the Dog Rescue by Dianne Wolfer
So That Happened, But Maybe You Already Knew by Tami Sussman
Sunshine on Vinegar Street by Karen Comer
The Great Gallipoli Escape by Jackie French
The Mudpuddlers by Pamela Rushby
The Odds: The Power of Being Odd by Matt Stanton
The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart by Samera Kamaleddine
The Unlikely Heroes Club by Kate Foster
Uncle Xbox by Jared Thomas
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.
Anchored by Debra Tidball
Bear and Duck are Friends by Sue de Gennaro
Big Dog is a Big Help by Sally Rippin
Can You Teach a Fish to Climb a Tree? by Jane Godwin
Duckling Runs Away by Margaret Wild
Grace and Mr Milligan by Caz Goodwin
Gurril: Storm Bird by Trevor Fourmile
Gymnastica Fantastica by Briony Stewart
Hair! by Mike Dumbleton
In the Rockpool by Andrea Rowe
Ladybirds Do Not Go To Daycare by Ali Rutstein
Nedingar: Ancestors by Isobel Bevis
One Little Duck by Katrina Germein
Our Mob by Jacinta Daniher and Taylor Hampton
Ruby’s Repair Café by Michelle Worthington
Run Pups Run by Kerri Day
Shadow Catchers by Kirsty Murray
The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham
The Little Things by Penny Harrison
The Trees by Victor Steffensen
The Wheelbarrow Express by Sue Whiting
These Little Feet by Hayley Rawsthorne
We’re Moving Away by Niña Nill
When I’m Big by Karen Blair
Where Will the Sleepy Sheep Sleep? by David Metzenthen
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 picture books, where the story, theme or concept is unified through illustrations. Ages 0-18 years.
Note: some of these books may be for mature readers.
Anchored by Debra Tidball, Arielle Li
Bowerbird Blues by Aura Parker
City of Light by Mark and Heather Jackson
Desert Jungle by Jeannie Baker
Dorrie by Tania McCartney
Every Night at Midnight by Peter Cheong
Good Morning, My Deer! by Sophie Beer, Mel Amon
If I Was a Horse by Sophie Blackall
Ladybirds Do Not Go To Daycare by Ali Rutstein, Niña Nill
Leaf-light by Trace Balla
Little Treasure by Chanelle Gosper and Jennifer Goldsmith
Mizuto and the Wind by Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki, Kate Baillie
Paper-flower Girl by Margrete Lamond and Mateja Jager
Plague by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
Raised by Moths by Charlie Archbold and Michelle Conn
Satin by Sophie Masson and Lorena Carrington
Stay for Sinner by Sandhya Parapukkaran and Michelle Pereira
That Bird Has Arms by Kate and Jol Temple and Ronojoy Ghosh
The Black Cockatoo with One Feather Blue by Jodie McLeod and Eloise Short
The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham
The Garden at the End of the World by Cassy Polimeni and Briony Stewart
The Lucky Shack by Apsara Baldovino and Jennifer Falkner
Timeless by Kate Canby
World by Martine Murray and Anna Read
Your Head’s Not the Place to Store Problems by Josh Pike and Stephen Michael King
EVE POWNALL AWARD
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.
Note: books in this category are for mature readers and some may deal with particularly challenging themes including violence and suicide. Parental guidance is recommended.
All About the Heart by Remi Kowalski
Australia: Country of Colour by Jess Racklyeft
Australian Animals: From Beach to Bush by Brentos
Australian Backyard Birds by Myke Mollard
Bidhi Galing by Anita Heiss
Caroline by Mark Wilson
Country Tells Us When by Tsheena Cooper, Mary Dann, Dalisa Pigram-Ross. Sheree Ford, Yawuru Ngan-ga Language Centre (translated)
Country Town by Isolde Martyn and Robyn Ridgeway
Democracy! by Phil Bunting
Eat My Dust! by Neridah McMullin
Eww Gross: Foul Facts and Putrid Pictures by Dan Marshall
High by Jess McGeachin
How We Came to Be: Creatures of Camouflage and Mimicry by Sami Bayly
Our Country: Where History Happened by Mark Greenwood
River to Bay: Victoria’s Maritime History by Carole Wilkinson
Songlines: First Knowledge for Young Readers by Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly
Tamarra: A Story of Termites on Gurindji Country by Violet Wadrill, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal, Leah Leaman, Cecelia Edwards, Cassandra Algy, Felicity Meakins, Briony Barr, Gregory Crocetti
The Forgotten Song: Saving the Regent Honeyeater by Lisa Harvey-Smith
The World’s Most Atrocious Animals by Phil Bunting
This Book Thinks Ya Deadly by Corey Tutt
Universal Guide to the Night Sky by Lisa Harvey-Smith
Wildlife Compendium of the World by Tania McCartney
Wildlife of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef by Myke Mollard
Wollemi: Saving a Dinosaur Tree by Samantha Tidy
The Book Muse 