Wilderness Society announces Environment Awards, Karajia Awards shortlists
The Wilderness Society has announced the shortlists for the 2025 Environment Award for Children’s Literature and Karajia Award for First Nations Children’s Storytelling.
The shortlisted titles in each category are:
Environment Award
Fiction
- Mission Wildlife Rescue (Pat Cummins and Dave Hartley, illus by Serena Geddes, HarperCollins)
- Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Cassy Pollimeni, illus by Hykie Breeze, UWAP)
- The Apprentice Witnesser (Bren MacDibble, A&U Children’s)
- Taronga Presents: Baby Boom (Taronga Conservation Society Australia & Kristin Darell, illus by Laura Wood, Penguin)
Nonfiction
- Nightlife (Sandra Kendell, Windy Hollow)
- Tree (Claire Saxby, illus by Jess Racklyeft, A&U Children’s)
- Seed to Sky: Life in the Daintree (Pamela Freeman, illus by Liz Anelli, Walker Books)
- Jiggliest Jellyfish (Tim Flannery & Emma Flannery, illus by Katie Melrose, HGCP)
Picture fiction
- Afloat (Kirli Saunders, illus by Freya Blackwood, HGCP)
- Country (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Cheryl Davison, Wild Dog)
- Our World Full of Wonder (Jevita Nilson, illus by Jess Racklyeft, CSIRO Publishing)
- General Waste (Michel Streich, Scholastic)
- Voice of the Sea (John Williamson, illus by Andrea Innocent and Jonathan Chong, Puffin)
Karajia Award
Fiction
- Wurrtoo (Tylissa Elisara, illus by Dylan Finney, Lothian)
- When the World Was Soft (Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation, A&U Children’s)
Nonfiction
- Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu (Diane Lucas & Ben Tyler, illus by Emma Long, A&U Children’s)
- Ask Aunty: Bush Survival Skills (Aunty Munya Andrews, illus by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, HG Explore)
- ngayawanj bagan-nggul, ngayawanj barra barra-nggul (we belong to the land, we belong to the sea) (Vincentia High School, with Kirli Saunders & Jaz Corr, ILF)
- Always Was, Always Will Be (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, Magabala)
Picture fiction
- Afloat (Kirli Saunders, illus by Freya Blackwood, HGCP)
- bagan, barra barra, mirriwarr (The Boys Who Found Their Way) (Tyran Uddin and Kayden Wellington, with Kirli Saunders and Jaz Corr, ILF)
- Miimi and Buwaarr, Mother and Baby (Melissa Greenwood, ABC Books)
- For 60,000 Years (Marlee Silva, illus by Rhys Paddick, Scholastic)
- The Moon Story (Marshia Cook, illus by Marshia Cook and Tamua Nuggett, ILF).
Created in 1994, the Environment Award for Children’s Literature promotes ‘a love of nature through books’. The judging panel this year includes primary school teacher Shannon Wong-Nizic, writer, actor and voice artist Leah Vandenberg and picture book author and poet Johanna Bell.
The Karajia Award for Children’s Literature ‘celebrates and recognises the important message of First Nations authors and illustrators that honour a connection to Country – sharing stories exploring land, community, culture and language’. Judges for the awards include Wilman, Noongar and Ballardong teacher Isobel Bevis, painter and Yidaki (didgeridoo) player Blak Douglas, and performer Lucas Proudfoot.
The winners will be announced during Nature Book Week, from 11–19 October. More information is available on the Wilderness Society website.
Category: Awards Local news
