CBCA 2021 Notable Books announced
Wednesday, 24 February 2021 Books+Publishing @booksandpublishing
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its list of Notable Books for 2021.
The books in each category are:
Older readers
- The F Team (Rawah Arja, Giramondo)
- Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U)
- The End of the World is Bigger than Love (Davina Bell, Text)
- When It Drops (Alex Dyson, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- Deep Water (Sarah Epstein, A&U)
- The Lost Soul Atlas (Zana Fraillon, Lothian)
- When Rain Turns to Snow (Jane Godwin, Lothian)
- Catch Me If I Fall (Barry Jonsberg, A&U)
- Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)
- Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Cath Moore, Text)
- Before the Beginning (Anna Morgan, Lothian)
- Where We Begin (Christie Nieman, Pan)
- The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Garth Nix, A&U)
- Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal (Anna Whateley, A&U)
- Loner (Georgina Young, Text)
Younger readers
- The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
- The January Stars (Kate Constable, A&U)
- Aster’s Good, Right Things (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
- The Heartsong of Wonder Quinn (Kate Gordon, UQP)
- Zoe, Max and the Bicycle Bus (Steven Herrick, UQP)
- Across the Risen Sea (Bren MacDibble , A&U)
- The Grandest Bookshop in the World (Amelia Mellor, Affirm)
- The Republic of Birds (Jessica Miller, Text)
- The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst (Jaclyn Moriarty, illus by Kelly Canby, A&U)
- Worse Things (Sally Murphy, illus by Sarah Davis, Walker)
- We Are Wolves (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
- The Secret Library of Hummingbird House (Julianne Negri, Affirm)
- When This Bell Rings (Allison Rushby, Walker)
- The Mummy Smugglers of Crumblin Castle (Allison Rushby, Walker)
- Bindi (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Magabala)
- Haywire (Claire Saxby, Scholastic)
- The Fire Star (A L Tait, Penguin)
- Beyond Belief (Dee White, Scholastic)
- The Book of Chance (Sue Whiting, Walker)
- Her Perilous Mansion (Sean Williams, A&U)
Early childhood
- Bear in Space (Deborah Abela, illus by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall, Walker)
- Busy Beaks (Sarah Allen, Affirm)
- Coming Home to Country (Bronwyn Bancroft, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- What Do You Call Your Grandpa? (Ashleigh Barton, illus by Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
- Shapes and Colours (John Canty, Berbay)
- Soon (Libby Gleeson, illus by Jedda Robaard, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- I’ll Always Be Older Than You (Jane Godwin, illus by Sara Acton, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- Who’s Your Real Mum? (Bernadette Green, illus by Anna Zobel, Scribble)
- Me and My Boots (Penny Harrison, illus by Evie Barrow Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- No! Never! (Libby Hathorn & Lisa Hathorn-Jarman, illus by Mel Pearce, Lothian)
- Ruby Red Shoes: My Wonderful Grandmother (Kate Knapp, HarperCollins)
- Australia Under the Sea 1, 2, 3 (Frané Lessac, Walker)
- Anemone is not the Enemy (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
- There’s No Such Thing (Heidi McKinnon, A&U)
- Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
- We Love You, Magoo (Briony Stewart, Puffin)
- This Small Blue Dot (Zeno Sworder, Thames & Hudson Australia)
- Bin Chicken (Kate & Jol Temple, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic)
- Pink! (Margaret Wild, illus by Judith Rossell, HarperCollins)
- Ten Little Figs (Rhiân Williams Nathaniel Eckstrom, Walker)
Picture book
- Sometimes Cake (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Tamsin Ainslie, Walker)
- The Biscuit Maker (Sue Lawson, illus by Liz Anelli, Walker)
- I Saw Pete and Pete Saw Me (Maggie Hutchings, illus by Evie Barrow, Affirm)
- The Unwilling Twin (Freya Blackwood, HarperCollins)
- Wolfred (Nick Bland, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
- Give Me Some Space (Philip Bunting, Omnibus)
- Not Cute (Philip Bunting , Omnibus)
- Who Am I? (Philip Bunting, Omnibus)
- Wombat (Philip Bunting, Omnibus)
- Littlelight (Kelly Canby, Fremantle Press)
- Norton and the Bear (Gabriel Evans, Berbay)
- Ellie’s Dragon (Bob Graham, Walker)
- Diamonds (Armin Greder, A&U)
- Sing Me the Summer (Jane Godwin, illus by Alison Lester, Affirm)
- Colin Cockroach Goes to Caloundra (Chris McKimmie, Ford Street Publishing)
- Jelly-Boy (Nicole Godwin, illus by Christopher Nielsen, Walker)
- How to Make a Bird (Meg McKinlay, illus by Matt Ottley, Walker)
- Your Birthday Was the Best! (Maggie Hutchings, illus by Felicita Sala, Affirm)
- The Fire Wombat (Jackie French, illus by Danny Snell, HarperCollins)
- Anisa’s Alphabet (Mike Dumbleton, illus by Hannah Sommerville, MidnightSun)
- My Shadow is Pink (Scott Stuart, Larrikin House)
- Wild Girl from the Sea (Margaret Wild, illus by Jane Tanner, A&U)
- Hello Jimmy! (Anna Walker, Puffin)
- Good Question: A Tale Told Backwards (Sue Whiting, illus by Annie White, Walker)
- Who’s Your Real Mum? (Bernadette Green, illus by Anna Zobel, Scribble)
Eve Pownall Award for information books
- The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals (Sami Bayly, Lothian)
- Azaria: A True History (Maree Coote, Melbournestyle Books)
- The Daddy Animal Book (Jennifer Cossins, Lothian)
- The Mummy Animal Book (Jennifer Cossins, Lothian)
- Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu (Pamela Freeman, illus by Liz Anelli, Walker)
- Strangers on Country (David Hartley & Kirsty Murray, illus by Dub Leffler, NLA)
- There’s a Zoo in my Poo (Felice Jacka, illus by Rob Craw, Macmillan)
- Little Lon (Andrew Kelly, illus by Mark Jackson & Heather Potter, Wild Dog Books)
- Saltie Mumma (Sandra Kendall, Windy Hollow Books)
- Hold On! Saving the Spotted Handfish (Gina M Newton, illus by Rachel Tribout, CSIRO Publishing)
- Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather (Stephanie Owen Reeder, illus by Tania McCartney, NLA)
- Will the Wonderkid: Treasure hunter of the Australian outback (Stephanie Owen Reeder, NLA)
- My Story, Ngaginybe Jarragbe (Shirley Purdie, Magabala)
- Kookaburra (Claire Saxby, illus by Tannya Harricks, Walker)
- Matthew Flinders: Adventures on leaky ships (Carole Wilkinson, illus by Prue Pittock, Wild Dog Books).
The Notable Books list acts as the longlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. The 2021 shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, 30 March, and the winners on Friday, 20 August.
For more information about the CBCA Awards, see the CBCA website.
Category: Awards Junior Local news
