Speech Pathology Australia book awards 2020 shortlists announced

Friday, 3 July 2020 Books+Publishing

The shortlists for the 2020 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards have been announced.

The shortlisted titles in each category are:

Birth to three years

Are These Hen’s Eggs (Christina Booth, A&U)
Backyard Birds (Helen Milroy, Fremantle Press)
Bluey: The Beach (Bluey, Puffin)
Boo! (Margaret Wild, illus by Andrew Joyner, Puffin)
Counting Our Country (Jill Daniels, Magabala)
Duck, Apple, Egg (Glenda Millard, illus by Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
Going to the Footy (Debbie Coombes, Magabala)
Goodnight, Little Tough Guy (Michael Wagner, illus by Tom Jellett, ABC Books)
Kindness Makes Us Strong (Sophie Beer, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Kisses in Your Heart (Sonia Bestulic, illus by Nancy Bevington, Big Sky)
Meerkat Splash (Aura Parker, Puffin)
Mummy Cuddle (Kate Mayes, illus by Sara Acton, ABC Books)
My Friends are all Different (Rosie Smith, illus by Bruce Whatley, Scholastic)
My Possum Plays the Drums (Catherine Meatheringham, illus by Max Hamilton, Windy Hollow)
Once Upon My Legs (Mike Dumbleton, illus by Sarah Boese, Little Book Press)
One Blue Shoe (Jane Godwin, illus by Jane Reiseger, Affirm)
Pink Moon Dreaming (Vicki Wood, illus by Judith Mary Davidson, Uncle Bearskin)
Roo Knows Blue (Renee Treml, Puffin)
Sing with Me (Raising Literacy Australia, Little Book Press)
The Butterfly Garden (Michael Torres, illus by Fern Martins, Magabala)
There’s a Tiger out There (Sophie Masson, illus by Ruth Waters, Hardie Grant Egmont)
What Colour is the Sea (Katie Stewart, Fremantle Press)
Wibble Wobble (Jen Storer, illus by Lisa Stewart, ABC Books)

Three to five years

A Stack of Alpacas (Matt Cosgrove, Scholastic)
All of the Factors of Why I Love Tractors (Davina Bell, illus by Jenny Løvlie, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Baby Business (Jasmine Seymour, Magabala)
Charlie’s Shell (Marina Zlatanova, New Holland)
Ella and the Ocean (Lian Tanner, illus by Jonathan Bentley, A&U)
Izzy and Frank (Katrina Lehman, illus by Sophie Beer, Scribble)
Lights Out, Leonard (Josh Pyke, illus by Chris Nixon, Puffin)
Louie and Snippy Save the Sea (Collette Dinnigan, illus by Grant Cowan, Berbay)
My Culture and Me (Gregg Dreise, Puffin)
Nop (Caroline Magerl, Walker)
The Tiny Star (Mem Fox, illus by Freya Blackwood, Puffin)
Theodore the Unsure (Pip Smith, illus by Beau Wylie, Scholastic)
Three (Stephen Michael King, Scholastic)
Tilly (Jane Godwin, illus by Anna Walker, Scholastic)
When Billy Was a Dog (Kirsty Murray, illus by Karen Blair, A&U)

Five to eight years

Ask Hercules Quick (Ursula Dubosarsky, illus by Andrew Joyner, A&U)
Fitzroy Reader No. 25 Matilda (Mary O’Caroll, illus by Caroline Keys, Fitzroy Readers)
Fitzroy Reader No. 26 The Twins (Mary O’Caroll, illus by Caroline Keys, Fitzroy Readers)
Goat on a Boat (Nick Dent, illus by Suzanne Houghton, Omnibus)
Join the Armidale Parade (Sophie Masson, illus by Kathy Creamer, Little Pink Dog)
Little Nic’s Big Day (Nic Naitanui, illus by Fatima Anaya, A&U)
Miss Kraken (Nicki Greenberg, A&U)
Mum’s Elephant (Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe, illus by Christina Booth, Magabala)
The Painted Ponies (Alison Lester, A&U)
The Wildlife Winter Games (Richard Turner, illus by Ben Clifford, Starfish Bay)

Eight to 10 years

100 Ways to Fly (Michelle Taylor, UQP)
Amazing Dogs with Amazing Jobs (Laura Greaves, Puffin)
Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back (Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell, A&U)
Cooee Mittigar (Jasmine Seymour, illus by Leanne Mulgo Watson, Magabala)
Girls Can Fly (Sally Morgan and Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala)
How to Make a Movie in 12 Days (Fiona Hardy, Affirm)
In the Shadow of an Elephant (Georgie Donaghey, illus by Sandra Severgnini, Little Pink Dog)
Landing With Wings Trace Balla (Trace Balla, A&U)
Mika and Max (Laura Bloom, Walker)
Oh Brother (Sonya Spreen Bates, Novella)
Pie in the Sky (Remy Lai, Walker)
Sensitive (Allayne L Webster, UQP)
Something a Little Different (Hayley Frazer, illus by Lauren Eldridge-Murray, DoctorZed)
Squishy Taylor and the Secret Envelope (Alisa Wild, illus by Ben Wood, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Super Sidekicks 1: No Adults Allowed (Gavin Aung Than, Puffin)
The Boy Who Could Fly and Other Magical Plays for Children (Ursula Dubosarsky, illus by Amy Golbach, Christmas Press)
The Brilliant Ideas of Lily Green (Lisa Siberry, Hardie Grant Egmont)
The Little Wave (Pip Harry, UQP)
The Things About Oliver (Deborah Kelly, Wombat Books)
This is Home: Essential Australian Poems for Children (Jackie French, illus by Tania McCartney, NLA Publishing)
Winston and the Wondrous Wooba Gymnastic Club (Tamsin Janu, Scholastic)

Indigenous children

Backyard Birds (Helen Milroy, Fremantle Press)
Counting Our Country (Jill Daniels, Magabala)
Going to the Footy (Debbie Coombes, Magabala)
The Butterfly Garden (Michael Torres, illus by Fern Martins, Magabala)
Baby Business (Jasmine Seymour, Magabala)
My Culture and Me (Gregg Dreise, Puffin)
Mum’s Elephant (Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe, illus by Christina Booth, Magabala)
Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back (Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell, A&U)
Cooee Mittigar (Jasmine Seymour, illus by Leanne Mulgo Watson, Magabala)
Girls Can Fly (Sally Morgan and Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala).

The winners will be announced on 6 November

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’.