Every year, the Children’s Book Council of Australia chooses to award children’s books in the category a variety of honours and awards, including the Notable Books, Honour Books, and Book of the Year. Celebrating children’s books in Australia since 1946, the CBCA is a good award that gives attention to books for younger readers that might not always get the coverage that adult books do or highlight authors who may not be as well known. There are several past CBCA books I have read – I’d have to dig through all my books and reviews to find them all, but no doubt they have all won or been honoured because they are wonderful books and the Notables this year seem to have a diverse range of plots and authors for readers to explore. This post outlines the award, the categories and the Notable books that the judges will be choosing from this year. Having read some of them, I know it will be a tough call with so many good books out there.
Below are the key dates in the award announcements for 2020:
Announcement Dates:
Notables – announced the last Tuesday in February at 7pm AEDT
Short List – announced the last Tuesday in March at 12 noon AEDT
Winners and Honours – announced the third Friday in August at 12 noon AEST
The advocacy role played by the CBCA promotes the literary experience for children and assures the scope and vitality of Australian children’s books. The annual CBCA Book of the Year Awards affirm the quality of some of Australia’s most creative people and provide a boost to their capacity to devote time to their craft.
Established with the first awards in 1946, the annual CBCA Book of the Year Awards aim to:
• promote quality literature for young Australians;
• support and encourage a wide range of Australian writers and illustrators of children’s books and;
• celebrate contributions to Australian children’s literature.
Here are the award categories:
CATEGORIES
There are six categories in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.
• 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 (previously the Crichton Award for New Illustrators administered by the CBCA Victorian Branch)
View the complete list of notables here: https://www.cbca.org.au/notables-2020
The Notable Books I have read are:
The Honeyman and The Hunter by Neil Grant
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
As Happy As Here by Jane Goodwin
Hapless Hero Henrie by Petra James
The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble
The Glimme by Emily Rodda
The Notables I hope to read are:
Angel Mage by Garth Nix
Pirate Boy of Sydney Town by Jackie French
The Girl, the Dog and the Writer in Lucerne by Katrina Nannestad
The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt, Illustrated by Katherine Quinn
Sick Bay by Nova Weetman
I’m sure there are others on the list that will interest me, but I shall have to do some investigations into the books to make my final decision. Some I already have and will be working my way through them. Bren MacDibble’s book is also on the Readings Children’s books short prize, and I am hoping to read each book on there and review it, and write about the prize in another post.
Title: The River Home
It is for Lucy that they come together, where all past ills are somewhat forgotten, and bridges start to be constructed. It is Lucy who urges them to do this – to heal themselves. Her heartbreaking story is raw and filled with every emotion possible – joy, fear, sadness, love and uncertainty. The three sisters have lived their entire lives with their mother as a best-selling author, and her story is woven throughout this family saga, written eloquently and in a way where each character gets to tell their story. Lucy is full of life, yet her secret will rock the family. Margot has been holding onto hers since she was sixteen – ever since the school play, and the incident that drove her away from her family at seventeen. And Eve is determined to hide her secret from her husband, to maintain the order and proper life she has led for thirty years. These secrets, and how they are revealed to the reader and to the other characters are each done with great impact, rocking the world for everyone involved and threatening to cause new rifts. Yet in the aftermath, when they discover Margot’s secret, that knowledge brings them together and allows the family to begin healing and gives the Sorrell sisters the courage to go on with the challenges that life is throwing at them.
Title: The Good Turn (Cormac Reilly #3)
This was the first Cormac Reilly book I read in the series, and whilst I am guessing some things in it refer back to the previous books, I found that I was able to follow everything really well despite not having had a chance to read them yet. It was written and told in a way that I feel readers can read from any point and go back to the previous books – each story is its own encapsulated event much like the Phryne Fisher books or the Rowland Sinclair books – each case is its own event and sure, some things from the past might be mentioned in passing, but if the main plot doesn’t hinge on these mentions, it is a joy to read.
Title: Hapless Hero Henrie (House of Heroes #1)
As Henrie ventures from her home with Ellie, following the letter and subsequently falling into a trap on her way to Moldovia. Once there, Henrie starts to learn about the history of her family – and there are a few surprises along the way that I absolutely loved. The brilliance of these secrets was that the hints and Easter Eggs were dropped, and it doesn’t matter if you pick up on them or not, it is equally fun working the answer out on your own or waiting for the Big Reveal later on in the book. I do hope that characters involved in this secret return later on in the series, because I feel like there could be a big surprise on the way for readers. In this high interest, accessible middle grade text, graphics are combined with text to make the story engaging and interactive. I love the names – the alliterative names and the names like Claire Voyant – it is something I would do, as I love names that have a hint of irony and humour behind them. It also allows readers of all abilities to engage with the text and will hopefully grow confidence for any readers who might need that little boost. It should engage both boys and girls as well, giving them a female hero who is not too feminine and who fits into a world where she was told she doesn’t belong but in actual fact, she really does. Henrie is one of those heroes like Kensy and Max that will have wide appeal, and much like Kensy and Max, I cannot wait for the next installment of this series.
Title: Withering-by-Sea (A Stella Montgomery Intrigue #1)
Stella’s adventure is filled with magic and danger – but not too much danger and is set in a time that evokes a Victorian sense of time and place, which contributes to the magical sense of this book and the characters that populate this novel. In a world where girls are trained to do certain things, and where they are expected to fall in line, characters like Stella and Gert flout the rules and turn the whole world upside down, proving that they are just as capable of the boys. There is a delightful twist at the end that has a fairytale feel to it, as does the whole novel, which makes it very exciting and interesting to see how various fairy tale tropes and characteristics have found their way into children’s literature today. Having won many awards, I can see why this book won them – and as it begins a series, it answers enough questions to wrap the first book up but at the same time, leaves enough unanswered that readers will want to read the next book to find out what happens and get those answers. There is at least one that I wonder if is going to be a thread throughout the series and will be revealed at the end.
