CBCA Book of the Year 2024 Shortlist

On the 19^th of March, the 2024 shortlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards was announced, and there are some great ones that I have read and several that I am yet to discover.

Book of the year: Older readers

• Grace Notes (Karen Comer, Lothian)
• A Hunger of Thorns (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
• Inkflower (Suzy Zail, Walker Books)
• Let’s Never Speak of This Again (Megan Williams, Text)
• The Quiet and the Loud (Helena Fox, Pan)
• Two Can Play That Game (Leanne Yong, A&U Children’s)

Book of the year: Younger readers

• Being Jimmy Baxter (Fiona Lloyd, Puffin)
• Huda Was Here (H Hayek, A&U Children’s)
• Real Pigeons Flap Out (Andrew McDonald, illus by Ben Wood, HGCP)
• Scar Town (Tristan Bancks, Puffin)
• Scout and the Rescue Dogs (Dianne Wolfer, illus by Tony Flowers, Walker Books)
• The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart (Samera Kamaleddine, HarperCollins)

Book of the year: Early childhood

• Bear and Duck Are Friends (Sue deGennaro, Little Hare)
• Can You Teach a Fish to Climb a Tree? (Jane Godwin, illus by Terry Denton, HGCP)
• The Concrete Garden (Bob Graham, Walker Books)
• Grace and Mr Milligan (Caz Goodwin, illus by Pip Kruger, Marshall Cavendish)
• Gymnastica Fantastica! (Briony Stewart, Lothian)
• One Little Duck (Katrina Germein, illus by Danny Snell, HarperCollins)

Picture book of the year

• Bowerbird Blues (Aura Parker, Scholastic)
• Every Night at Midnight (Peter Cheong, Affirm)
• If I Was a Horse (Sophie Blackall, Lothian)
• Paper-flower Girl (Mateja Jager, written by Margrete Lamond, WestWords)
• That Bird Has Arms (Ronojoy Ghosh & Niharika Hukku, written by Kate Temple & Jol Temple, HGCP)
• Timeless (Kelly Canby, Fremantle Press)

Eve Pownall Award

• Australia: Country of Colour (Jess Racklyeft, Affirm)
• Country Town (Isolde Martyn & Robyn Ridgeway, illus by Louise Hogan, Ford Street)
• Eww Gross: Foul facts and putrid pictures (Dan Marshall, Pantera)
• Our Country: Where history happened (Mark Greenwood, illus by Frané Lessac, Walker Books)
• Tamarra (Violet Wadrill, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal & Leah Leaman, illus by Cecelia Edwards, Cassandra Algy, Felicity Meakins, Briony Barr & Gregory Crocetti, HG Explore)
• This Book Thinks Ya Deadly! (Corey Tutt, illus by Molly Hunt, HG Explore)

CBCA Award for New Illustrator

• Etta and the Shadow Taboo (Jeremy Worrall, written by J M Field, Bright Light)
• Grace and Mr Milligan (Pip Kruger, written by Caz Goodwin, Marshall Cavendish)
• Hope Is the Thing (Erica Wagner, written by Johanna Bell, A&U Children’s)
• Phonobet (Kim Drane, written by Kathy Weeden, NLA Publishing)
• Raised by Moths (Michelle Conn, written by Charlie Archbold, MidnightSun)
• When You’re a Boy (Blake Nuto, Affirm).