Social Queue (Kay Kerr, Text)
Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Neurodiverse teenager Zoe is undertaking an internship at an online media company when her first assignment, about the struggles of navigating the online dating scene as an autistic person, goes...
A Duck Called Brian (Al Murphy, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Brian the duck is unique—unlike all his yellow duck friends, he is bright blue. When Brian wakes up one morning to find he has run out of his favourite cereal,...
NZ Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize shortlist announced
Monday, 16 August 2021
Hachette Aotearoa NZ and the Margaret Mahy estate have announced the shortlist for the Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize. The shortlisted illustrators are: Elizabeth Knowles Tara Southgate Sarah Trolle Jessica Twohill...
Larrikin House acquires Freeman picture book
Thursday, 12 August 2021
Larrikin House has acquired worldwide rights to children’s picture book The Heartbeat of the Land by Cathy Freeman. The publisher says the book is ‘a poignant call for environmental action...
NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2021 winners announced
Thursday, 12 August 2021
The winners of the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. The winning titles in each category are: Margaret Mahy Book of the Year...
My Brother Ben (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Acclaimed Australian children’s writer Peter Carnavas has followed up his wonderful first novel The Elephant with another book equally full of heart. An ode to sibling relationships, growing up and the natural world, My...
Pantera acquires McWilliams debut middle-grade novel
Wednesday, 4 August 2021
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to The Reindeer and the Submarine, the debut middle-grade novel by Beverly McWilliams. Inspired by the true story of a reindeer who lived aboard...
Cat Rabbit on ‘How to Make Friends: A Bear’s Guide’
Wednesday, 4 August 2021
Cat Rabbit is a textile artist and designer based in Melbourne. In her latest picture book, How to Make Friends: A Bear's Guide (Berbay, October), Rabbit explores the struggles of...
Dark Rise (C S Pacat, A&U)
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
Will is on the run from the men who killed his mother. When a terrifying artefact is unleashed on the Thames docks, Will finds himself thrust into a hidden world...
Boyle wins 2021 Text Prize for ‘Dancing Barefoot’
Friday, 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
Thursday, 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
Wednesday, 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)
Tuesday, 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)
Tuesday, 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...
Treasure in the Lake (Jason Pamment, A&U)
Tuesday, 20 July 2021
Friendship, hidden cities and all-round adventure lie at the heart of Jason Pamment’s immersive graphic novel Treasure in the Lake. Sam and Iris have been best friends since they were little, but as the two...
ABC Kids to publish Teeny Tiny Stevies picture books
Monday, 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...
Maxine (Bob Graham, Walker Books)
Wednesday, 14 July 2021
A ‘companion book’ for Bob Graham’s beloved Max (which was 20 years old in 2020!), Maxine does stand alone but is not as rich if you haven’t first read Max, as it...
Anything But Fine (Tobias Madden, Penguin)
Tuesday, 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
Monday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Wednesday, 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)
Wednesday, 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)
Wednesday, 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)
Tuesday, 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)
Wednesday, 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)
Tuesday, 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
Monday, 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
Thursday, 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)
Thursday, 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
Wednesday, 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...
