CBCA 2022 Notable Books announced

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its list of Notable Books for 2022. The list acts as the longlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

The books in each category are:

Older readers

• The Boy from the Mish (Gary Lonesborough, A&U)
• Can the Real J R Stand Up, Please? (Nadia L King, Dixi Books Publishing)
• Dark Rise (C S Pacat, A&U)
• Dirt Circus League (Maree Kimberley, Text)
• Evacuation Road (H M Waugh, Rhiza Press)
• The Gaps (Leanne Hall, Text)
• Girls in Boys’ Cars (Felicity Castagna, Pan)
• Henry Hamlet’s Heart (Rhiannon Wilde, UQP)
• House of Hollow (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)
• How to Repaint a Life (Steven Herrick, UQP)
• The Midnight Girls (Alicia Jasinska, Penguin)
• Morrison and Mr Moore (Michael Hyde, in case of emergency press)
• The Prison Healer (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
• Road Tripping with Pearl Nash (Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield Press)
• Skin Deep (Hayley Lawrence, Scholastic)
• Social Queue (Kay Kerr, Text)
• Stars in Their Eyes (Jessica Walton, illus by Aśka, Fremantle Press)
• Sugar Town Queens (Malla Nunn, A&U)
• Terciel and Elinor (Garth Nix, A&U)
• Tiger Daughter (Rebecca Lim, A&U)
• Waking Romeo (Kathryn Barker, A&U)

Younger readers

• Always (Morris Gleitzman, Puffin)
• Are You There, Buddha? (Pip Harry, Lothian)
• Cranky Chicken (Katherine Battersby, Lothian)
• Cuckoo’s Flight (Wendy Orr, A&U)
• The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel (Nicki Greenberg, Affirm)
• Dragon Skin (Karen Foxlee, A&U)
• The Edge of Thirteen (Nova Weetman, UQP)
• Eliza Vanda’s Button Box (Emily Rodda, HarperCollins)
• Elsewhere Girls (Emily Gale & Nova Weetman, Text)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop (Maryam Master, illus by Astred Hicks, Pan)
• Footprints on the Moon (Lorraine Marwood, UQP)
• Fozia and the Quest of Prince Zal (Rosanne Hawke, UQP)
• A Glasshouse of Stars (Shirley Marr, Puffin)
• The Good Times of Pelican Rise: Save the Joeys (Samone Amba, Affirm)
• Huda and Me (H Hayek, A&U)
• Listen, Layla (Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Penguin)
• Little Gem (Anna Zobel, Puffin)
• Mim and the Baffling Bully (Katrina Nannestad, illus by Cheryl Orsini, ABC Books)
• Mina and the Whole Wide World (Sherryl Clark, illus by Briony Stewart, UQP)
• My Brother Ben (Peter Carnavas, UQP)
• Night Ride into Danger (Jackie French, HarperCollins)
• Pawcasso (Remy Lai, A&U)
• Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
• The Right Way to Rock (Nat Amoore, Puffin)
• Seven Wherewithal Way (Samantha-Ellen Bound, Affirm)
• Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows (Denis Knight & Cristy Burne, Lothian)

Early childhood

• Amira’s Suitcase (Vikki Conley, illus by Nicky Johnston, New Frontier)
• Big Love (Megan Jacobson, illus by Beck Feiner, Walker)
• Florence and Fox (Zanni Louise, illus by Anna Pignataro, Walker)
• Grumble Boats (Susannah McFarlane, illus by Tamsin Ainslie, Affirm)
• Hello World (Lisa Shanahan, illus by Leila Rudge, ABC Books)
• How to Make Friends: A Bear’s Guide (Cat Rabbit, Berbay)
• A Human for Kingsley (Gabriel Evans, HGCP)
• Jetty Jumping (Andrea Rowe, illus by Hannah Sommerville, HGCP)
• Jumping Joeys (Sarah Allen, Affirm)
• Little One (Jane Godwin, illus by Gabriel Evans, Affirm)
• The March of the Ants (Ursula Dubosarsky, illus by Tohby Riddle, Book Trail Press)
• A Pair of Pears and an Orange (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
• The River (Sally Morgan, illus by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr, Magabala)
• Sea Country (Aunty Patsy Cameron, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
• Sharing (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Leanne Mulgo Watson, Magabala)
• Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day (Davina Bell, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
• Train Party (Karen Blair, Puffin)
• Walk of the Whales (Nick Bland, HGCP)
• What Do You Call Your Grandma? (Ashleigh Barton, illus by Martina Heiduczek, ABC Books)
• When the Waterhole Dries Up (Kaye Baillie, illus by Max Hamilton, Windy Hollow)
• Winston and the Indoor Cat (Leila Rudge, Walker)
• Wonderful Shoes (Emma Bowd, illus by Tania McCartney, Windy Hollow)

Picture book of the year

• Bear and Rat (Christopher Cheng, illus by Stephen Michael King, Puffin)
• Blue Flower (Sonya Hartnett, illus by Gabriel Evans, Puffin)
• The Boy and the Elephant (Freya Blackwood, HarperCollins)
• The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name (Sandhya Parappukkaran, illus by Michelle Pereira, HGCP)
• Christmas Always Comes (Jackie French, illus by Bruce Whatley, HarperCollins)
• Common Wealth (Gregg Dreise, Scholastic)
• Day Break (Amy McQuire, illus by Matt Chun, HGCP)
• Don’t Forget (Jane Godwin, illus by Anna Walker, Puffin)
• Enough Love? (Maggie Hutchings, illus by Evie Barrow, Affirm)
• The Flying Angel (Vicki Bennett, illus by Tull Suwannakit, Scholastic)
• Frankie and the Fossil (Jess McGeachin, Puffin)
• Happy Hoppy Home (Tull Suwannakit, Scholastic)
• Iceberg (Claire Saxby, illus by Jess Racklyeft, A&U)
• The Imagineer (Christopher Cheng, illus by Lucia Masciullo, NLA)
• The Inheritance (Armin Greder, A&U)
• Jacqueline, A Soldier’s Daughter (Pierre-Jacques Ober, illus by Jules Ober, Ford Street)
• Joe and the Stars (Phil Cummings, illus by Connah Brecon, Scholastic)
• Just One Bee (Margrete Lamond & Anthony Bertini, illus by Christopher Nielsen, Dirt Lane Press)
• The Katha Chest (Radhiah Chowdhury, illus by Lavanya Naidu, A&U)
• Mo and Crow (Jo Kasch, illus by Jonathan Bentley, A&U)
• Norton and the Borrowing Bear (Gabriel Evans, Berbay)
• Salih (Inda Ahmad Zahri, illus by Anne Ryan, Ford Street)
• Star of Anise (Jane Jolly, illus by Di Wu, NLA)
• Stellarphant (James Foley, Fremantle Press)
• We Found a Cat (Heidi McKinnon, Scholastic)

Eve Pownall Award

• The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney (Margaret Wild & Dan Wild, illus by Donna Rawlins, Walker)
• Book of Curious Birds (Jennifer Cossins, Lothian)
• The Bush Birds (Bridget Farmer, Black Cockatoo Books)
• The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia’s First Peoples (Corey Tutt, illus by Blak Douglas, HGCP)
• The Gentle Genius of Trees (Philip Bunting, Scholastic)
• Heroes, Rebels and Innovators (Karen Wyld, illus by Jaelyn Biumaiwai, Lothian)
• Iceberg (Claire Saxby, illus by Jess Racklyeft, A&U)
• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature (Sami Bayly, Hachette)
• Kunyi (Kunyi June Anne McInerney, Magabala)
• Masters of Disguise (Marc Martin, Puffin)
• Me, Microbes & I (Philip Bunting, HGCP)
• No Way! The Wildest Mind-Blowing Facts in the Universe (Dan Marshall, Pantera Press)
• One Potoroo: A Story of Survival (Penny Jaye, illus by Alicia Rogerson, CSIRO Publishing)
• Rachel’s War (Mark Wilson, Hachette Australia)
• Saving Seal: The Plastic Predicament (Diane Jackson Hill, illus by Craig Smith, Museums Victoria)
• Still Alive, Notes from Australia’s Immigration Detention System (Safdar Ahmed, Twelve Panels Press)
• Superpower (Philip Bunting, HGCP)
• Underground (Mirranda Burton, A&U)
• Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest (Diane Lucas & Ben Tyler, illus by Emma Long, A&U)
• The Way of the Weedy Seadragon (Anne Morgan, illus by Lois Bury, CSIRO Publishing)
• Wiradjuri Country (Larry Brandy, NLA)
• Wombat (Christopher Cheng, illus by Liz Duthie, Walker).

The shortlists for the 2022 CBCA Book of the Year Awards will be announced at noon on Tuesday, 29 March. The winners will be announced on Friday, 19 August.

For more information about the CBCA Awards and this year’s Notables list, see the CBCA website.

Category: Junior Local news