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DANZ Children’s Book Award longlists announced

Thursday, 18 January 2024   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The longlists for the inaugural DANZ (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand) Children’s Book Award have been announced.

The longlisted titles in each category are:

Picture books

  • Echo (Lisa Van Der Wielen, illus by Anne Farrell, HeartKids)
  • ​Be Careful, Xiao Xin! (Alice Pung, illus by Sher Rill Ng, Working Title Press)
  • The Month That Makes the Year (Inda Ahmad Zahri, A&U)
  • Maharaja’s Quest (Paridhi P Apte, self-published)
  • My Shadow is Purple (Scott Stuart, Larrikin House)
  • Ceremony (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David Hardy, A&U)
  • Stay for Dinner (Sandhya Parappukkaran, illus by Michelle Pereira, HGCP)
  • Come Over to My House (Sally Rippin & Eliza Hull, illus by Daniel Gray-Barnett, HGCP)
  • The Heartbeat of the Land (Cathy Freeman, Coral Vass & Tannya Harricks, Larrikin House)
  • Zola and the Christmas Lights (Melina Marchetta, illus by Deb Hudson, Puffin)

Chapter books

  • When Granny Came to Stay (Alice Pung, illus by Soweol Han, Pan)
  • Maku (Meyne Wyatt, Pan)
  • Ayesha Dean: The High School Heist (Melati Lum, Melby Rose Publishing)
  • Little Ash Friendship Fix-it! (Ash Barty & Jasmin McGaughey, illus by Jade Goodwin, HarperCollins)
  • The Very Best Doughnut (Randa Abdel-Fattah, illus by Amani Haydar, Pan)
  • 29 Things You Didn’t Know About Me (Solli Raphael, illus by Olana Janfa, Pan)

Middle grade

  • Xavier in the Meantime (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
  • The Wintrish Girl (Melanie La’Brooy, UQP)
  • So That Happened . . . But Maybe You Already Knew That (Tami Sussman, Walker Books)
  • Nerra: Deep Time Traveller, The Broken Rainbow (Tasma Walton, illus by Samantha Campbell, Scholastic)
  • Huda Was Here (H Hayek, A&U)
  • Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon (Gabrielle Wang, Puffin)
  • Indigo in the Storm (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
  • The Wrath of the Woolington Wyrm (Karen Foxlee, illus by Freda Chiu, A&U)
  • No Words (Maryam Master, Pan)
  • The Rebels of Mount Buffalo (Helen Edwards, Riveted Press).

The biennial DANZ Children’s Book Award was established ‘to recognise, award, and celebrate diverse children’s fiction’. The award was launched in August last year in partnership with the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA).

The award recognises children’s books published in Australia or New Zealand which push boundaries, challenges stereotypes, and celebrates diverse and marginalised people and communities.

The shortlisted titles will be announced in February and the winners will be announced in March.​ More information about the award is available on the DANZ website.

 

Category: Awards Local news