Cowley awarded Order of New Zealand
Thursday, 17 May 2018
Children's author Joy Cowley has been awarded the Order of New Zealand, which recognises outstanding service to the state and people of the country. Described as one of New Zealand’s...
PRH acquires new Gordon picture book for 2019, world rights sold to Dial
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Penguin Random House (PRH) has acquired Australian and New Zealand rights to a new picture book by Gus Gordon titled I Am Alice. The book is described as ‘an exquisite...
Perlman to release first book for children
Monday, 14 May 2018
Elliot Perlman has written a debut children’s book, The Adventures of Catvinkle, which will be published by Random House Children’s Books in Australia in October 2018. The book centres on...
REAL Awards 2018 shortlists announced
Thursday, 10 May 2018
The shortlists for the 2018 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...
Outside the lines: Meet Scribblers festival director Katherine Dorrington
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
After 12 years at Perth Writers Festival (PWF), Katherine Dorrington has stepped straight back into programming as the director of Scribblers Festival, a new festival celebrating children's literature and arts....
‘Amelia Westlake’ sells into US
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Erin Gough’s new queer feminist YA novel, Amelia Westlake (Hardie Grant Egmont), has sold into the US to Little, Brown imprint Poppy. Gough’s second novel, following her Ampersand Prize-winning debut...
OzCo to send Australian delegation to Shanghai
Friday, 4 May 2018
The Australia Council has announced it will support up to five Australian publishing delegates to attend the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) in 2018. Expressions of interest are...
Amazon US launches children’s subscription book box
Wednesday, 2 May 2018
In the US, Amazon has launched a children’s book box program for members of its subscription service Amazon Prime, reports Publishers Weekly. The online retailer’s Prime Book Box will deliver...
Affirm reprints ‘The Silver Sea’; projects $40,000 in profits for Royal Children’s Hospital
Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Affirm Press has ordered a reprint of ‘profit-for-purpose’ picture book The Silver Sea (Alison Lester, Jane Godwin & the children at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne), after selling out the...
Wilson awarded 2018 Lloyd O’Neil award; Covernton awarded Pixie O’Harris
Monday, 30 April 2018
Independent bookseller and Indigenous literacy advocate Suzy Wilson and Working Title Press publisher Jane Covernton will be inducted into the ABIA Hall of Fame at the Australian Book Industry Awards...
Black Inc. sells ‘Nobel Prize’ middle-grade in seven territories
Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Nobel Prize-winner Barry Marshall and Lorna Hendry’s middle-grade time-travel adventure, How to Win a Nobel Prize (illus by Bernard Caleo, Black Inc.), has sold into seven territories, including to Oneworld...
Sandhu wins Readings Children’s Book Prize 2018
Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Jo Sandhu has won the 2018 Readings Children’s Book Prize for her middle-grade novel Tarin of the Mammoths: The Exile (Puffin), the first book in a trilogy. Sandhu’s title was...
In somebody else’s shoes: Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman’s plans for his term
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Prolific children’s author Morris Gleitzman has been chosen as the Australian Children’s Laureate. He spoke with Sarah Farquharson about his plans for his two-year term as laureate. What are you...
Oh! The Horror! The rise of horror in children’s fiction
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Danielle Binks explores youth literature’s reanimated interest in the horror genre. Stephen King once said, ‘We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones’, and it certainly...
Book bites: Children’s bookseller L J Lacey offers a taste of books to come
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Picture this Picture books with ‘life lessons’ introducing little ones to new ideas are a growing trend, and Lessons of a LAC (Lynn Jenkins, illus by Kirrili Lonergan, EK Books,...
CBCA announces recipients of 2018 Maurice Saxby Creative Development Program
Thursday, 19 April 2018
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Victoria Branch has announced the successful applicants for the 2018 Maurice Saxby Creative Development Program, which provides emerging children’s writers and illustrators with...
Asher, Alexie top ALA ‘most challenged books’ list in wake of allegations
Wednesday, 11 April 2018
In the US, two books by authors who have previously been accused of sexual harassment have topped the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual list of most frequently challenged books. Jay...
‘Animalia’ author develops educational app for iconic picture book
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Graeme Base, author and illustrator of the iconic Australian picture book Animalia, has launched an educational app called Animalia Education, based on the 1986 bestseller. The app, aimed at children...
Magabala to launch Daisy Utemorrah Award
Monday, 9 April 2018
Broome publisher Magabala Books will launch a new unpublished manuscript award in the second half of 2018 to find the best children’s or YA novel by an Aboriginal or Torres...
The Little Bookroom launches in-store parent-teacher events
Friday, 6 April 2018
Melbourne children’s bookstore The Little Bookroom has launched its first in-store information event for parents and teachers. The first event in what the store hopes to turn into a once-a-term...
Croggon to publish new middle-grade fiction with Walker
Wednesday, 4 April 2018
Alison Croggon, author of the 'Pellinor' series for young adults, will publish her first middle-grade fantasy adventure title, The Threads of Magic, with Walker Books. Walker Books acquired world rights in all...
Kostakis wins IBBY Ena Noël award
Wednesday, 4 April 2018
Will Kostakis’ YA novel The Sidekicks (Penguin) has won the 2018 Ena Noël Award, a biennial prize administered by the Australian branch of the International Board on Books for Young...
Quarto’s profits decline by 58% despite children’s sales growth
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
Global illustrated book publisher the Quarto Group has reported its operating profits declined by 58% to US$7.2 million (A$9.4 million) last year, while its sales declined marginally by 1.4% to...
NZ publisher OneTree House wins Bologna Prize for children’s publishing
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
New Zealand publisher OneTree House has won the Bologna Prize for Best Children’s Publisher of the Year in the Oceania category. OneTree House was chosen from a shortlist of five,...
Fremantle Press to publish ‘Meet Me at the Intersection’ anthology
Thursday, 29 March 2018
Fremantle Press will publish an inaugural anthology of 'Own Voice' stories from emerging and established writers who identify as one or more of First Nations, people of colour, LGBTQIA+ or...
Harry Potter series tops Dymocks 101 reader poll 2018
Thursday, 29 March 2018
The Harry Potter series (J K Rowling, Bloomsbury) has topped the annual Dymocks Top 101 books of all time list, dethroning All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Fourth...
CBCA Awards 2018 shortlists announced
Tuesday, 27 March 2018
The shortlists for this year’s Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Older Readers Mallee Boys (Charlie Archbold, Wakefield...
‘Nevermoor’ wins Book of the Year at 2018 Indie Book Awards
Tuesday, 27 March 2018
Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Hachette) has been named Book of the Year at the 2018 Indie Book Awards, presented at the Leading Edge Books Conference in Hobart...
Thomas wins Waterstones children’s prize, ‘Nevermoor’ wins younger readers category
Friday, 23 March 2018
Jessica Townsend’s middle-grade novel Nevermoor (Lothian) has won the younger readers category of the 2018 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. The UK retailer described the Queensland writer’s debut as ‘one of the...
Scholastic acquires Rogers’ ‘Girltopia’
Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Scholastic Australia has acquired a middle-grade fiction trilogy, 'Girltopia', written by former Hardie Grant Egmont publishing director Hilary Rogers. Book one in the trilogy, Girltopia, marks Rogers’ debut as an...
