Book bites: Starting 2020 on the right note
11 December 2019
Mischa Parkee, teacher and children’s specialist at Sydney’s Better Read Than Dead, shares her top children's picks for the new year. What better way to bring in the new year...
MidnightSun acquires Steve Heron picture book
5 December 2019
MidnightSun has acquired world rights to the picture book Ling Li’s Lantern, by Steve Heron and illustrated by Benjamin Johnston. Ling Li’s Lantern follows Ling Li on a quest that...
Beasley wins inaugural OzCo Arts and Disability Award for an emerging artist
4 December 2019
Tennant Creek-based artist and illustrator Dion Beasley was one of three winners at the Australia Council’s inaugural Arts and Disability Awards, presented at a ceremony at Canberra’s National Portrait Gallery...
Former Macmillan Education staff launch new educational publisher
3 December 2019
Former staff from Macmillan Education Australia’s school division have formed a new educational publishing company called Matilda Education. After Macmillan Education Australia announced in August that it would withdraw its...
PRH sells Aung Than graphic novel series to US in six-figure deal
25 November 2019
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has sold North American rights to the first three books in Gavin Aung Than’s middle-grade graphic novel series ‘Super Sidekicks’ to Random House Children's Books...
‘A Secret Safe to Tell’ wins Chinese children’s award
22 November 2019
In China, a translated edition of Naomi Hunter’s A Secret Safe to Tell (illus by Karen Erasmus, Empowering Resources) has won the gold award at the Children’s Choice Book Awards. Translated into...
China ‘most active’ international market for Oz kids publishers: Insights from the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair
20 November 2019
A delegation of Australian publishers and agents attended this year’s China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), which ran from 15–17 November. Wenona Byrne, Australia Council’s director of literature, reports...
Marketing to the gatekeepers: Karys McEwen on marketing books for young people
20 November 2019
In her final column for Junior, Karys McEwen explores what works (and what doesn’t) when marketing children’s literature to the people actually purchasing books—adults. When it comes to marketing literature to...
‘Heads and Tails: Insects’ wins CICLA for Best International Picture Book
20 November 2019
John Canty's picture book Heads and Tails: Insects (Berbay) has won an award for Best International Picture Book at the Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Awards (CICLA) in China. Heads...
HarperCollins launches new prize for YA, middle-grade
19 November 2019
HarperCollins Children’s Books Australia has launched a new prize for middle-grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction, called the Matilda Children’s Literature Prize. The winner of the annual prize will...
‘Missing Marvin’ wins Children’s Peace Literature Award
12 November 2019
Sue deGennaro’s picture book Missing Marvin (Scholastic) has won this year’s Children’s Peace Literature Award. Convener of the judging panel Kate Prescott described Missing Marvin as a funny and gentle...
State of euphoria: Alison Evans on ‘Euphoria Kids’
8 November 2019
Reviewer Jordi Kerr says Alison Evans’ YA novel Euphoria Kids (Echo, February) is ‘a tender, contemporary fairytale about magic, friendship and gender identity’ that follows three trans kids ‘learning to...
Long-term appeal: Marketing a series
7 November 2019
How—and to whom—do publishers market books as part of series? Bec Kavanagh spoke to Hardie Grant Egmont and Scholastic about their approaches to creating buzz that transforms into longevity. In two...
Herrick’s YA novel ‘By the River’ wins German Youth Literature Prize
7 November 2019
NSW-based author Steven Herrick’s YA novel By the River (A&U) has won Germany’s Youth Literature Prize in the young adult division. First published in 2004, By the River follows 14-year-old...
Winners of 2019 YABBAs announced
30 October 2019
The winners of the 2019 Young Australians Best Book Awards (YABBAs), Victoria’s children’s choice awards, have been announced. The winning titles are: Picture storybooks Seriously Do Not Open This Book (Andy...
John Flanagan’s ‘Ranger’s Apprentice’ to be adapted for film
29 October 2019
A film based on YA adventure series ‘Ranger’s Apprentice’ by Australian author John Flanagan (Random House Children’s) has received funding and is expected to begin production in 2020, reports the...
‘The Things We Can’t Undo’ wins AAFT Award for Children’s Literature
24 October 2019
Gabrielle Reid’s YA novel The Things We Can’t Undo (Ford Street) has won the 2019 Australian Association of Family Therapists’ (AAFT) Award for Children’s Literature. The novel follows the relationship between...
2020 vision: Kids’ and YA title preview
23 October 2019
New books from favourites including Melina Marchetta, Sally Morgan and Jessica Townsend are slated for 2020 publication, alongside debuts by Danielle Binks and Georgina Young that are already generating buzz....
Twelve Australians nominated for 2020 Astrid Lindgren Award
22 October 2019
Twelve Australian authors, illustrators and organisations have been announced as candidates for the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world's richest prize for children's literature. The Australian candidates are: Randa...
‘Message in a Sock’ wins children’s book award
21 October 2019
Picture book Message in a Sock (Kaye Baillie, illus by Narelda Joy, MidnightSun) has won a Northern Lights Book Award for children’s books that ‘excel in aesthetic and literary qualities...
‘All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors’ sold to US, Canada
17 October 2019
Hardie Grant Egmont has sold US and Canadian rights to picture book All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors (Davina Bell, illus by Jenny Løvlie) to HarperCollins imprint...
Noni moves to PRH after eight-way auction
17 October 2019
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired ANZ rights to a new series from YA author Lynette Noni titled 'The Prison Healer'. Rights were acquired in an eight-way auction via...
Walker acquires middle-grade novels from Pamela Rushby, Allison Rushby
16 October 2019
Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to new middle-grade titles by authors Pamela Rushby and Allison Rushby, who are mother and daughter. Pamela Rushby's book, called The Mummy Smugglers...
Oz, NZ authors and illustrators on 2019 White Ravens list
16 October 2019
Several books by Australian and New Zealand authors and illustrators have been included in the 2019 White Ravens list for international children’s and youth literature. The Australian titles on the...
Amazon launches Kindle for kids
8 October 2019
Amazon has launched a Kindle for children, marking the first time the company has designed a device specifically for kids. The Kindle Kids Edition, priced at A$182.50, includes the standard...
Masson joins MidnightSun with spec-fic YA novel
7 October 2019
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired world rights to Sophie Masson’s YA speculative fiction novel The Ghost Squad. Set in ‘an alternative yet jarringly familiar reality’, The Ghost Squad follows 16-year-old Polly...
‘Zobi and the Zoox: A story of coral bleaching’ awarded Whitley Medal 2019
4 October 2019
Royal Zoological Society of NSW has announced the winner of the 2019 Whitley Awards, presented for outstanding publications that profile the unique wildlife of the Australasian region. The Whitley Medal,...
The information age: Children’s reference books
2 October 2019
In a time of internet fatigue, young readers are turning back to books as authoritative sources of information. Danielle Binks investigates. George Orwell is said to have stated, ‘In a...
‘Dinner Detectives’ books to be developed for TV
26 September 2019
Melbourne-based production studio BES Animation has acquired world broadcast and digital content rights to self-published picture book series ‘Dinner Detectives’, with plans to develop the books into a multi-platform TV...
Windy Hollow makes first North American sale with ‘Ivy Bird’
26 September 2019
Independent children’s publisher Windy Hollow has sold North American rights to Ivy Bird (Tania McCartney, illus by Jess Racklyeft) to Blue Dot Books. The deal, negotiated by Natasha Solomun at...
