Australia's 2008 "Book of the Year" Contenders

The Children's Book Council of Australia presnts its short list for "book of the year" in various categories. The winners will be announced on August 15th.

I added links for the books available on U.S. Amazon. Some have American publication dates later this year.

Older Readers [young adults]

• Pharoah: The Boy Who Conquered the Nile, by Jackie French

• The Ghost's Child, by Sonya Hartnett

• Marty's Shadow, by John Heffernan

• Love Like Water, by Meme McDonald

• Black Water, by David Metzenthen

• Leaving Barrumbi, by Leonie Norrington

Younger Readers [9-12 year olds]

• Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!), by Sherryl Clark; Elissa Christian, illustrator

• The Shaggy Gully Times, by Jackie French; Bruce Whatley, illustrator

• Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp, by Odo Hirsch

• Winning the World Cup, by David Metzenthen; Stephen Axelsen, illustrator

• The Key to Rondo, by Emily Rodda

• Dragon Moon, by Carole Wilkinson

Early Childhood

• Shhh! Little Mouse, by Pamela Allen

• Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, by Aaron Blabey

• Cat, by Mike Dumbleton; Craig Smith, illustrator

• The Trouble with Dogs!, by Bob Graham

• The Night Garden, by Elise Hurst

• Lucy Goosey, by Margaret Wild; Ann James, illustrator

Picture Book of the Year [some are for mature readers]

• The Peasant Prince, illustrated by Anne Spudvilas; Li Cunxin, author

• The Island, by Armin Greder

• Ziba Came on a Boat, illustrated by Robert Ingpen; Liz Lofthouse, author

• You and Me: Our Place, illustrated by Dee Huxley; Leonie Norrington, author

• Requiem for a Beast, by Matt Ottley

• Dust, by Colin Thompson, et al.

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

• Australia's Deadly and Dangerous Animals, by Michael Cermak

• Girl Stuff: Your Full-on Guide to the Teen Years, by Kaz Cooke

• Kokoda Track: 101 Days, by Peter Macinnis

• The Antarctica Book: Living in the Freezer, by Mark Norman

• Parsley Rabbit's Book about Books, by Frances Watts; David Legge, illustrator

• Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter, by Carole Wilkinson; Dean Jones, illustrator

The CBCA cites many other notable books in each category.

Hat tip to Oz's Judith Ridge for reporting the news of the awards on the Child_lit listserv.

Image from Working Title Press.

Comments

[a. fortis]

Cool--I'll have to look for some of these! I'll pass this on to my half-sister, who lives in Australia. I have a niece and nephew who might enjoy some of them...

[Susan T.]

Kane/Miller publishes a couple of them here.

I thoroughly enjoyed the picture book winner from a few years back--Are we there yet? by Alison Lester, about a trip around Australia--which I "discovered" through these awards.