Australian children’s books selected for international catalogues

Several Australian children’s and YA books will soon be getting greater international exposure after being included in the prestigious IBBY Honour List and White Ravens catalogue.

Two refugee stories—the YA novel The Bone Sparrow (Zana Fraillon, Hachette) and the picture book Teacup (Rebecca Young, illus by Matt Ottley, Scholastic)—have been selected for the 2018 International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour List, which will be displayed at next year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair and IBBY Congress in Athens, as well as other countries. IBBY Australia said of the selection: ‘Many Australian authors and illustrators for young people have a deep concern for the plight of refugees. It happens that the two books selected, one for excellence in writing, one for excellence in illustration, treat themes of migration and the search for a safe place.’

Five books by Australian authors and illustrators have also been included in the 2017 White Ravens catalogue for international children’s and youth literature, which is produced annually by the International Youth Library in Germany. The library’s language specialists select ‘books of international interest that deserve a wider reception’ based on ‘their universal theme and/or their exceptional and often innovative artistic and literary style and design’. The Australian titles are: Iris and the Tiger (Leanne Hall, Text); Magrit (Lee Battersby, Walker Books); One Would Think the Deep (Claire Zorn, University of Queensland Press); Somewhere Else (Gus Gordon, Penguin); and The Stars at Oktober Bend (Glenda Millard, Allen & Unwin).

Andrea Hanke
Editor
Think Australian
andrea.hanke@thorpe.com.au

Category: Think Junior editorial