NCACL launches First Nations children’s book resource
13 August 2020
The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL) has produced a new, freely accessible database of children’s books by and about Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Stage one,...
NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2020 winners announced
13 August 2020
The winners of the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. New Zealand poet laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh’s first book for children, Mophead, took...
Piper Picks the Perfect Pet (Caroline Tuohey, illus by Nicky Johnston, Ford St)
12 August 2020
From the alliterative title alone, you know this picture book must be read out loud to the little ones. Piper Picks the Perfect Pet even rhymes, which will add to...
This One is Ours (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)
12 August 2020
In her second novel, Kate O’Donnell, author of Untidy Towns, delivers an insightful and earnest coming-of-age story brimming with humanity. This One is Ours takes readers on a romantic overseas...
CBCA Book Week 2020 postponed to October
12 August 2020
This year's CBCA Book Week, which usually runs in late August during term three, will now take place in term four, from October 17–23. The rescheduled dates are due to...
Bindi (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Magabala)
5 August 2020
Multi–award winning author and poet Kirli Saunders turns her talent to junior fiction with this wonderfully engaging verse novel, which won the inaugural WA Premier’s Daisy Utemorrah Award. Eleven-year-old Bindi...
Wolfred (Nick Bland, Hardie Grant Egmont)
5 August 2020
Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy the engaging rhymes, quirky illustration and straightforward messaging of this new tale from popular picture book author Nick Bland. When aspiring writer Wolfred McFlea is...
The Tunnel of Dreams (Bernard Beckett, Text)
29 July 2020
The Tunnel of Dreams is a charmingly breezy middle fiction fantasy novel about identical twins Arlo and Stefan, and their adventure in a parallel, magic-filled world. Author Bernard Beckett wastes...
Indigo Owl (Charlie Archbold, Wakefield)
29 July 2020
Scarlet, Dylan and Rumi are new students at the Arcadia Institute, where they will receive the training required to turn them into good citizens of the corpocratic planet Galbraith. But...
The golden age of middle-grade
29 July 2020
In the four years since Danielle Binks wrote about the under-representation of middle-grade literature, the genre has exploded. Now a middle-grade author herself, Binks follows up with a look at...
Coles to offer free ‘Treehouse’ mini titles, donate to ILF
27 July 2020
Australian supermarket chain Coles has partnered with author Andy Griffiths and illustrator Terry Denton to offer 24 pocket-sized ‘Treehouse’ titles as the chain’s new Collectables items, available from Wednesday, 29...
Tricky Nick (Nicholas J Johnson, illus by Russell Jeffery, Pan)
22 July 2020
I’m usually suspicious of books written by performers, celebrities or adult writers turning to children’s fiction, but Tricky Nick won me over in the first 20 pages. Magician-turned-author Nicholas J...
The History of Mischief (Rebecca Higgie, Fremantle Press)
22 July 2020
The History of Mischief is an exploration of family, grief and the power of stories, with a pseudo-historical twist. Nine-year-old Jessie is struggling with the loss of her parents and...
Shortlist for inaugural Matilda Children’s Literature Prize announced
22 July 2020
HarperCollins Australia has announced the shortlist for the inaugural Matilda Children’s Literature Prize. The three shortlisted manuscripts are: 'Exposed' by Sandy Bigna, about a teenager who starts having strange flashbacks...
Fuller, Woods win 2020 Readings YA, children’s book prizes
22 July 2020
Readings has announced the winners of its YA and children's book prizes for 2020. Lisa Fuller was named the winner of the Readings Young Adult Book Prize for her debut...
The Fire Star (A L Tait, Penguin)
15 July 2020
Maven is a servant girl doomed to a life of servitude and forced to hide how sharp-minded she really is. Reeve is a squire with dreams of becoming a knight...
Bunnygirl (Holly Jayne, Berbay)
15 July 2020
In this adorable junior graphic novel, the main character Bea loves superhero comics, cute things, bunnies and eating cereal. She really wants to become a superhero so that she can...
None Shall Sleep (Ellie Marney, A&U)
15 July 2020
From mastermind Australian YA writer Ellie Marney comes a gripping new psychological thriller. Although the novel is not set in Australia—Marney opts for the larger criminal playing field of the...
The Lost Library (Jess McGeachin, Puffin)
8 July 2020
This is unashamedly a story for every child (and adult) who loves books and reading—and it reaches out to encourage every reader to fit that description. Little Oliver and his...
Observational humour: Remy Lai on ‘Fly on the Wall’
8 July 2020
Remy Lai's middle-grade graphic novel Fly on the Wall (Walker, September) follows 12-year-old Henry Khoo, who goes on a solo international flight to Singapore without the knowledge of his overprotective family....
Fly on the Wall (Remy Lai, Walker)
8 July 2020
When Henry Khoo isn’t trolling his school as anonymous cartoonist ‘Fly on the Wall’, he is being babied at home by an overprotective family. To correct this, Henry devises a...
Walker launches biannual ‘Walker Wednesday’ to discover new writers
8 July 2020
Walker Books will accept unsolicited manuscripts on two specific dates in 2020 via an online portal as part of its new ‘Walker Wednesday’ initiative to ‘discover new Australian stories for...
‘Real Pigeons’ to be adapted for TV by James Corden
8 July 2020
Real Pigeons Fight Crime (Andrew McDonald, illus by Ben Wood, Hardie Grant Egmont) is being developed by host of the The Late Late Show James Corden as a TV series...
The Wolves of Greycoat Hall (Lucinda Gifford, Walker Books)
1 July 2020
Author and illustrator Lucinda Gifford brings us a refreshing and humorous tale with The Wolves of Greycoat Hall, the first book in a new junior fiction series. Boris and his...
Aunty’s Wedding (Miranda Tapsell & Joshua Tyler, illus by Samantha Fry, A&U)
1 July 2020
There are few picture books about weddings for young children, who are naturally curious about this important ceremony. This story takes the charming perspective of a young child who is...
Wakefield acquires Haghdoosti’s debut YA novel ‘Sunburnt Veils’
26 June 2020
Wakefield Press has acquired ANZ and UK rights to Sara Haghdoosti's debut YA novel Sunburnt Veils. Sunburnt Veils is a character-based exploration of Islamophobia through a heroine who’s the kind...
Career Path: Middle Grade Mavens
24 June 2020
Pamela Ueckerman and Julie Grasso are two self-described ‘author mums’ and the hosts of the podcast Middle Grade Mavens. They review children’s books, interview industry experts and discuss all things...
Howl (Kat Patrick, illus by Evie Barrow, Scribble)
24 June 2020
Maggie is having one of those days: the sky too blue, the moon too bright, the spaghetti too long. It almost goes without saying that Maggie’s mother is also having...
Illustrating the truth: Charmaine Ledden-Lewis on ‘Found’
11 June 2020
Bundjalung artist Charmaine Ledden-Lewis was the recipient of the 2019 Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award, which offered a mentorship and the opportunity to illustrate Bruce Pascoe's first picture book. The result...
REAL Awards 2020 shortlists announced
4 June 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 Reading & Enjoying Australian Literature (REAL) Awards—which act as shortlists for children’s choice book awards in New South Wales (KOALAs), Northern Territory (KROC Awards) and...
