Speech Pathology awards 2023 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2023 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards have been announced.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Age Category: Birth to three

• Baby Lou (Katrina Germein, illus by Karen Blair, Little Book)
• Blueberry Farm (Stephen Michael King, Scholastic)
• Bush Mob Counting (Helen Milroy, Magabala)
• Everything You Want to See (Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Fremantle Press)
• I Love You (Mike & Linda Dumbleton, illus by Tom Jellett, Little Book)
• I’m a Dirty Dinosaur: Hide and seek (Janeen Brian, illus by Ann James, Puffin)
• It’s Busy in the City (Jedda Robaard, HGCP)
• My First Book of Aussie Animals (Gordon Winch, illus by Stephen Pym, New Frontier)
• My First Book of Aussie Birds (Gordon Winch, illus by Stephen Pym, New Frontier)
• Our Home our Heartbeat (Adam Briggs, illus by Kate Moon & Rachael Sarra, HGCP)
• Snap! (Anna Walker, Scribble)
• This Little Joey (Renee Treml, Puffin)
• What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say (Davina Bell, illus by Hilary Jane Tapper, Lothian)
• Where’s My Baby? (Gregg Dreise, Magabala)

Age Category: 3 to 5

• Alfie the Brave (Richard Harris, illus by Simon Howe, Penguin)
• Be Careful, Xiao Xin! (Alice Pung, illus by Sher Rill Ng, HarperCollins)
• Buster Follows his Nose (Paul Stevenson, illus by Jenny Hale, Little Pink Dog Books)
• Come Over to My House (Eliza Hull & Sally Rippin, illus by Daniel Grey-Barnett, HGCP)
• Dance in a Ring (Mike & Linda Dumbleton, illus by Jedda Robaard, Little Book)
• Day Break (Amy McQuire, illus by Matt Chun, HGCP)
• Egg (Claire Atkins, illus by Harrison Vial, UQP)
• Flipper and Finnegan (Sophie Cunningham, illus by Anil Tortop, A&U Children’s)
• Jack’s Jumper (Sara Acton, Walker Books)
• Katerina Cruickshanks (Daniel Grey-Barnett, Scribble)
• Koala Ark (Stephen Michael King, Scholastic)
• My Deadly Boots (Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler, illus by Samantha Campbell, Lothian)
• My Tooth is Looth! (David Campbell, illus by Daron Parton, Scholastic)
• Norton and the Borrowing Bear (Gabriel Evans, Berbay)
• Off to the Market (Alice Oehr, Scribble)
• On the Way to School (Vikki Conley, illus by Lucie Masciullo, New Frontier)
• Rodney Forgets It! (Michael Gerard Bauer, illus by Chrissie Krebs, Scholastic)
• Saving Seal: The plastic predicament (Dianne Jackson Hill, illus by Craig Smith, Museums Victoria)
• Shadow Catchers (Kirsty Murray, illus by Karen Blair, A&U Children’s)
• Star of Anise (Jane Jolly, illus by Di Wu, NLA Publishing)
• The Bewilderbeast (Josh Pyke, illus by Binny Talib, Scholastic)
• The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name (Sandhya Parappukkara, illus by Michelle Pereira, HGCP)
• The Imagineer (Christopher Cheng, illus by Lucia Masciullo, NLA Publishing)
• The Speedy Sloth (Rebecca Young, illus by Heath McKenzie, Scholastic)
• The Spotty Sock Mystery (Anna Notley, illus by Heidi Cooper Smith, Multilit)
• Toodle the Cavoodle, Sniffle Snuffle (Richard Tulloch, illus by Heidi Cooper Smith, Big Sky)
• Who’s Afraid of the Light? (Anna McGregor, Scribble)

Age Category: 5 to 8

• Born to Stand Out (Nikki Rogers, Created to Be)
• Ceremony: Welcome to Our Country (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David Hardy, A&U Children’s)
• Get Ready, Mama! (Sharon Giltrow, illus by Arielle Li, Exisle)
• Hedgehog the Wonder Dog (Dannika Patterson, illus by Ross Morgan, Ford Street)
• Jetty Jumping (Andrea Rowe, illus by Hannah Sommerville, HGCP)
• Jorn’s Magnificent Imagination (Coral Vass, illus by Nick Johnston, Exisle)
• Maku (Meyne Wyatt, Pan)
• My Dad Thinks He’s a Pirate (Katrina Germein, illus by Tom Jellett, Walker Books)
• The Australian Climate Change Book (Polly Marsden, illus by Chris Nixon, Lothian)
• The Curiosities (Zana Fraillon, illus by Phil Leslie, Lothian)
• The Echidna Near My Place (Sue Whiting, illus by Cate James, Walker Books)
• The Shop Train (Josie Wowolla Boyle, illus by Paul Seden, Magabala)
• Willa and Woof 1: Mimi is Missing (Jacqueline Harvey, Puffin)
• Wonderful Wasps (Katrina Germein, illus by Suzanne Houghton, CSIRO)

Age Category: 8 to 10

• Elvie and Rhino (Neridah McMullin, illus by Astred Hicks, Walker Books)
• Aussie STEM stars: Gisela Kaplan Bird and Primate Scientist (Emily Gale, Wild Dingo)
• How to be a Prime Minister and Survive Grade Five (Carla Fitzgerald, UQP)
• Night Lights (Inda Ahmad Zahri, illus by Lesley McGee, Little Pink Dog Books)
• Rachel’s War: The Story of an Australian WW1 Nurse (Mark Wilson, Lothian)
• Remember Triple Zero Heroes (J E Miller, Hawkeye)
• Silver Leaves (Gladys Milroy, Magabala)
• The Book of Wondrous Possibilities (Deborah Abela, Puffin)
• Uncle Xbox (Jared Thomas, illus by Kiara Honeychurch, Magabala)
• We Run Tomorrow (Nat Amoore, Puffin)

Decodable Books Category (category added in 2022)

• Early Readers Series (Decodable Readers)
• Main Fiction Series (Decodable Readers)
• Non Fiction Series (Decodable Readers)
• Era Phonics Decodables (Era Books)
• Little Learners, Big World Stage 7.1 – 7.5 (Little Learners Love Literacy)
• Sound Waves Decodable Readers (Firefly Education)
• Sunshine Phonics Decodable Series, Series 1 & 2 (Sunshine Books)
• Tummy Bug Series (Decodable Jewels).

Speech Pathology Australia 2022 Book of the Year Awards

The winners of the Speech Pathology Australia 2022 Book of the Year Awards were:

• Birth to 3 years: Hello World (Lisa Shanahan, illus by Leila Rudge, ABC Books)
• Three to 5 years: A Pair of Pears and an Orange (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
• Five to 8 years: The Incredibly Busy Mind of Bowen Bartholomew Crisp (Paul Russell, illus by Nicky Johnston, Exisle)
• Eight to 10 years: My Brother Ben (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Authored Children’s Book Award: Somebody’s Land: Welcome to Our Country (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David Hardy, A&U Children’s).

The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards aim to ‘promote quality Australian books that help children get the best, most literate start in life’. The books shortlisted are judged on their ‘appeal to children, interactive quality and ability to assist speech pathologists and parents in communication and literacy development’.

For more information, see the Speech Pathology Australia website.

Category: Awards Local news