IBBY Australia names 2022 Honour List selections

IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Australia has selected writer Vikki Wakfield and artist Philip Bunting for the 2022 IBBY Honour List.

Wakefield, who is based in South Australia, was selected in the writing category for her 2019 YA novel This is How We Change the Ending (Text). According to IBBY Australia, with her novel Wakefield ‘reveals again that she is one of Australia’s most gifted authors, in this towering example of her skills’. A ‘tribute to the power of words and art to transcend trauma’, This is How We Change the Ending centres on 16-year-old Nate, who is at a crossroads in his life. ‘Self-expression, and standing up for what you believe are powerfully presented in this emotionally raw novel. Funny and yet heartbreaking, it explores social issues via the prism of one character’s story, and conveys Nate’s thoughts with searing understanding.’

Queensland author-illustrator Bunting was selected in the illustration category for Wombat (Omnibus), described by IBBY Australia as ‘a pitch perfect picture book’. In the book, Bunting creates a catalogue of wombats, about whom he makes ironic jokes, engages in inventive word play using rhyme, rhythm and suffixes, ‘and also manages to tell an adventure story which evolves into a love story with a definite ending’. ‘The images, in a striking colour palette, are spare, and the design, including lusciously decorative endpapers, is splendid.’

The IBBY Honour Book List is compiled biennially by the international sections of IBBY, with each country selecting books published in the previous two years.

The 2022 list will be displayed at the IBBY Congress in Malaysia, the Bologna Book Fair and other international events.

Category: Awards Junior Local news