Anna Fienberg, Datsun Tran on 2026 IBBY Honour List

IBBY Australia has announced its 2026 selection for the biennial IBBY Honour List: for writing, Anna Fienberg’s Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth (Allen & Unwin, 2023), and for illustration, Datsun Tran’s Then and Now (Slingshot Books, 2024).

In Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth, Fienberg tells the story of two children dealing with trauma through creativity. Frances channels her grief following the death of her sibling into obsessive drawings of medical dangers, while Kit turns to painting as a refuge from his troubled home life. IBBY Australia described the novel as “a glorious master class in writing” that celebrates the healing power of nature, friendship and art, while sensitively exploring themes including mental illness and grief.

For illustration, IBBY Australia selected Datsun Tran’s debut picture book, Then and Now, which tells his family’s story of making a new home in Australia after fleeing Vietnam by boat as refugees. Through “vivid ink paintings and spare, resonant text”, the book contrasts past and present through sepia- and blue-toned imagery. IBBY Australia described the work as “a triumph of picture book art”.

The IBBY Honour Book List is compiled biennially by the international sections of IBBY, with each country selecting books published in the previous two years. The 2024 Australian selections were Tiger Daughter (Rebecca Lim, University of Queensland Press, for writing) and My Strange Shrinking Parents (Zeno Sworder, Thames & Hudson, for illustration).

The full 2026 list, including the two Australian titles, will be featured in a range of international touring exhibitions. More information about the Australian selection is available on IBBY Australia’s website.

Category: Awards Local news