Boyle wins 2021 Text Prize for ‘Dancing Barefoot’
30 July 2021
Victorian writer and teacher Alice Boyle has won the 2021 Text Prize for her YA novel Dancing Barefoot. According to Text, Dancing Barefoot is 'a story about finding love, figuring out...
PRH acquires Chadderton middle-grade graphic novel
29 July 2021
Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired world rights to the contemporary middle-grade graphic novel Oh, Brother by Adelaide author-illustrator Georgina Chadderton. Rights were acquired in a joint deal between PRH...
Christmas in July: children’s and YA
28 July 2021
Last week Books+Publishing brought you a round up of Australian publishers' top adult titles releasing time for Christmas 2021. Here are their children's and young adult picks. Picture books Scholastic’s...
self/less (AViVA, Macmillan)
27 July 2021
self/less is the debut novel by self-described multidisciplinary artist AViVA, whose music has a strong online following. Seventeen-year-old Teddy has lived a privileged childhood in the totalitarian city of Metropolis,...
Dragon Skin (Karen Foxlee, A&U)
27 July 2021
Dragon Skin is the much-anticipated new novel by Karen Foxlee, author of cherished modern classics including the internationally successful Lenny’s Book of Everything. Foxlee is skilled at writing brave yet vulnerable young...
ABC Kids to publish Teeny Tiny Stevies picture books
19 July 2021
HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired world rights to two picture books by children's music duo Teeny Tiny Stevies, to be published under the ABC Kids imprint. Teeny Tiny Stevies is...
Anything But Fine (Tobias Madden, Penguin)
13 July 2021
Anything But Fine is the young adult debut of Tobias Madden, who works in publishing and is part of the #LoveOzYA community. Like his main character, Luca, Madden grew up...
Text Prize 2021 shortlist announced
12 July 2021
The shortlist for the $10,000 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing has been announced. The seven shortlisted manuscripts are: 'Dancing Barefoot’ by Alice Boyle (YA), a story about...
‘Ginnie & Pinney, Learn & Grow’ series optioned for TV
7 July 2021
Big Sky Publishing’s educational children's series Ginnie & Pinney, Learn & Grow has been optioned for development as a television series by Australian animation studio Moody Street Productions. Created by...
Samantha Rutter on founding new publisher Storytorch during Covid
7 July 2021
After crowdfunding a successful 2020 children’s book, author Samantha Rutter sought a way to ‘pay it forward’ through a new publishing house focused on celebrating community. She tells Books+Publishing about...
Road Tripping with Pearl Nash (Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield)
7 July 2021
Since her 2018 debut Making Friends with Alice Dyson, shortlisted for the Adelaide Festival Unpublished Manuscript Award and the Readings Young Adult Book Prize, Poppy Nwosu has been creating protagonists that are a...
The Song of Lewis Carmichael (Sofie Laguna, illus by Marc McBride, A&U)
7 July 2021
Lyrical, mesmerising and full of heart, The Song of Lewis Carmichael by Sofie Laguna, complemented by the soft, detailed pencil drawings of Marc McBride, is a beautiful middle-grade adventure story...
A Trip to the Hospital (Freda Chiu, A&U Children)
29 June 2021
Freda Chiu’s first picture book, aimed at children aged three to seven, provides a friendly introduction to the idea of hospitals and what might happen in them. Largely informational rather...
Half My Luck (Samera Kamaleddine, HarperCollins)
23 June 2021
The first winner of HarperCollins’ Matilda Children’s Literature Prize is a warm-hearted and authentic coming-of-age story about the impact of race and place on our sense of self and belonging....
Grandma’s Prickly Secret (Trudie Trewin, illus by Nelli Suneli, Larrikin House)
22 June 2021
When the child in this picture book barges in on their grandma in the bathroom attempting to pluck out two prominent chin hairs, they proceed to list all the ways...
Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2021 shortlists announced
21 June 2021
The Wilderness Society has announced the shortlists for the 2021 Environment Award for Children’s Literature (EACL). The shortlisted titles in each category are: Nonfiction The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants (Philip...
Welbeck Flame acquires five-book ‘Hedgewitch’ series
17 June 2021
Welbeck Flame, the children’s imprint of UK publisher Welbeck Publishing Group, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (ex Canada) to a five-book middle-grade series by debut Australian author Sky McKenna,...
Underground: Marsupial outlaws and other rebels of Australia’s war in Vietnam (Mirranda Burton, A&U)
17 June 2021
Mirranda Burton’s graphic novel presents an overview of Australia during the Vietnam War by following three main characters: anti-war activist Jean McLean, Vietnam veteran Bill Cantwell and refugee Mai Ho....
Oratia Media named Bologna publisher of the year, Oceania
16 June 2021
Independent New Zealand/Aotearoa publisher Oratia Media has won the Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year in the Oceania category. The winner's citation describes Oratia Media as...
The Spectacular Suit (Kat Patrick, illus by Hayley Wells, Scribble)
9 June 2021
Parties can be extremely important for children. Especially for Frankie, the protagonist of The Spectacular Suit, who has never asked for a party before. With everyone in her class coming,...
Malla Nunn on ‘Sugar Town Queens’
9 June 2021
Malla Nunn's Sugar Town Queens (A&U, August) is a young adult novel set in Sugar Town, South Africa. This coming-of-age story follows 15-year-old Amandla as she uncovers her family history and...
Sugar Town Queens (Malla Nunn, A&U)
8 June 2021
Sugar Town Queens is a young adult coming-of-age novel by Malla Nunn, author of When the Ground is Hard. Her latest book follows 15-year-old Amandla, who is mixed-raced and growing...
HGCP to publish ‘Freedom Day’, sponsor Freedom Day Festival
2 June 2021
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has announced the acquisition of picture book Freedom Day, which will be released under the new Bright Light Books imprint in August. Freedom Day tells...
Australian children’s book creators sign open letter in support of Palestine
2 June 2021
Almost 300 publishing professionals, authors, illustrators and others with a connection to the children’s book industry have signed an open letter in support of Palestinian liberation since it was posted online on...
Readings YA Book Prize 2021 shortlist announced
2 June 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Readings Young Adult Book Prize has been announced. The shortlisted YA novels are: The F Team (Rawah Arja, Giramondo) Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U) The End of the...
Albert Namatjira (Vincent Namatjira, Magabala)
2 June 2021
In his picture book biography Albert Namatjira, Vincent Namatjira paints a stoic and quietly devastating portrait of his great-grandfather Albert, one of the most iconic figures in Australian painting. An...
Girls in Boys’ Cars (Felicity Castagna, Pan)
1 June 2021
Felicity Castagna’s Girls in Boys’ Cars is not dissimilar to her Prime Minister’s Literary Award–winning young adult novel The Incredible Here and Now, which centres on a 15-year-old coming of...
Hardie Grant acquires Ampersand Prize–shortlisted YA novels
26 May 2021
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing has acquired two additional titles from the Ampersand Prize 2020 shortlist: Completely Normal (and Other Lies) by Biffy James and We Who Hunt the Hollow by...
All Dogs Bark (Catherine Meatheringham & Deb Hudson, Windy Hollow Books)
25 May 2021
A picture book that is particularly appealing for canine lovers, All Dogs Bark is a joyous and raucous look at the dogs of the world. Its simple language makes it...
The Memory Thief (Leonie Agnew, Puffin)
25 May 2021
Following her last spellbinding tale The Impossible Boy, Leonie Agnew has created another spine-tingling adventure novel for middle-grade readers. The Memory Thief tells the magical story of an unlikely friendship...
