Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Australian children’s and YA bestsellers for 2022 YTD

16 March 2022   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

After a bumper year of sales in 2020, in which the children’s category was up 9.6% on 2019, the Australian children’s book market fell ever so slightly in 2021 (-0.2%), according to Nielsen Bookscan. Nonetheless, sales of children’s books in Australia in 2021 were still well above pre-pandemic levels.

And children’s book authors dominated bestseller lists in Australia, with J K Rowling the bestselling author in 2021 off of $11.7 million sold across 417,000 units, and Ahn Do holding onto the number one spot on the local authors list with $9.9 million from 955,000 units sold.

Such is the dominance of the children’s picture book charts by beloved cartoon blue heeler pup Bluey that if Bluey titles had been included in the picture book chart below, they would have taken up five places, including the top two spots. Altogether the top five Bluey titles represented 40,000 volume sales between them for the year so far.

Top 10 Australian picture books, YTD*

  1. Somebody’s Land: Welcome to Our Country (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, A&U)
  2. Where is The Green Sheep? (Mem Fox, Puffin)
  3. Ten Little Fingers & Ten Little Toes (Mem Fox, illus by Helen Oxenbury, Puffin)
  4. First Day (Andrew Daddo, ABC Books)
  5. Do Not Open This Book or Else (Andy Lee, Lake Press)
  6. Llamas in Pyjamas (Matt Cosgrove, Koala Books)
  7. Kissed by the Moon (Alison Lester, Random House Australia)
  8. Wombat Stew (35th Anniversary Edition) (Marcia Vaughan, illus by Pamela Lofts, Scholastic)
  9. Welcome, Baby, to This World! (Jess Racklyeft, Affirm Press)
  10. Possum Magic (35th Anniversary Edition) (Mem Fox, Scholastic)

*Excluding Bluey titles.

Top 10 Australian children’s fiction, YTD

  1. Animal Train: Wolf Girl 6 (Anh Do, A&U)
  2. The 143-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)
  3. They’re Bee-Hind You! The Bad Guys Episode 14 (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)
  4. The Wild Guide to Starting School (Laura Bunting, Omnibus Books)
  5. Across the Sea: Wolf Girl 5 (Anh Do, A&U)
  6. Into the Wild: Wolf Girl 1 (Anh Do, A&U)
  7. Let the Games Begin: Pow Pow Pig 2 (Anh Do, A&U)
  8. Tool Time! Hot Dog! #11 (Anh Do, Scholastic)
  9. The Great Escape: Wolf Girl 2 (Anh Do, A&U)
  10. Cut to the Chase: The Bad Guys Episode 13 (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)

Top 10 Australian YA fiction, YTD

  1. Only a Monster (Vanessa Len, A&U)
  2. The Gilded Cage: The Prison Healer Book 2 (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
  3. The Prison Healer (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
  4. Beyond the End of the World: The Other Side of the Sky 2 (Amie Kaufman &  Meagan Spooner, A&U)
  5. Dark Rise: Dark Rise 1 (C S Pacat, A&U)
  6. If This Gets Out (Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich, Hodder)
  7. Aurora’s End: The Aurora Cycle 3 (Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, A&U)
  8. House of Hollow (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)
  9. Anything But Fine (Tobias Madden, Penguin)
  10. Akarnae: Medoran Chronicles Book 1 (Lynette Noni, Pantera Press)

Top 10 Australian children’s nonfiction, YTD

  1. Girl Stuff 8-12 (Kaz Cooke, Viking)
  2. All New Official Minecraft Combat Handbook (Far Shore)
  3. Finding Our Heart (Thomas Mayor, Explore Australia)
  4. Everything Under the Sun (Molly Oldfield, Ladybird)
  5. Bushlife (Pete Cromer, Five Mile)
  6. The Treehouse Joke Book (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)
  7. Loki: Where Mischief Lies (Scholastic)
  8. The First Scientists (Corey Tutt, Explore Australia)
  9. Bug Atlas (Lonely Planet)
  10. All New Official Minecraft Creative Handbook (Far Shore)

Period covered for picture books, children’s books and YA fiction: 2 January 2022 to 26 February 2022 © Nielsen Book. Period covered for children’s nonfiction: 2 January 2022 to 15 March 2022.

 

Category: Think Australian bestsellers