CBCA 2022 Book of the Year shortlists announced
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its 2022 Book of the Year shortlists.
The shortlisted books in each category are:
Older readers
- The Boy from the Mish (Gary Lonesborough, A&U)
- Girls in Boys’ Cars (Felicity Castagna, Pan)
- How to Repaint a Life (Steven Herrick, UQP)
- Sugar Town Queens (Malla Nunn, A&U)
- Terciel and Elinor (Garth Nix, A&U)
- Tiger Daughter (Rebecca Lim, A&U)
Younger readers
- The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel (Nicki Greenberg, Affirm)
- Dragon Skin (Karen Foxlee, A&U)
- Exit Through the Gift Shop (Maryam Master, illus by Astred Hicks, Pan)
- A Glasshouse of Stars (Shirley Marr, Puffin)
- Huda and Me (H Hayek, A&U)
- Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
Early childhood
- Amira’s Suitcase (Vikki Conley, illus by Nicky Johnston, New Frontier)
- Jetty Jumping (Andrea Rowe, illus by Hannah Sommerville, HGCP)
- 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)
Picture book of the year
- Blue Flower (Sonya Hartnett, illus by Gabriel Evans, Puffin)
- The Boy and the Elephant (Freya Blackwood, HarperCollins)
- Iceberg (Claire Saxby, illus by Jess Racklyeft, A&U)
- The Inheritance (Armin Greder, A&U)
- Just One Bee (Margrete Lamond & Anthony Bertini, illus by Christopher Nielsen, Dirt Lane Press)
- Stellarphant (James Foley, Fremantle Press)
Eve Pownall Award
- Book of Curious Birds (Jennifer Cossins, Lothian)
- The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia’s First Peoples (Corey Tutt, illus by Blak Douglas, HGCP)
- Heroes, Rebels and Innovators (Karen Wyld, illus by Jaelyn Biumaiwai, Lothian)
- The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature (Sami Bayly, Hachette)
- Still Alive, Notes from Australia’s Immigration Detention System (Safdar Ahmed, Twelve Panels Press)
- Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest (Diane Lucas & Ben Tyler, illus by Emma Long, A&U)
CBCA Award for New Illustrator
- Freda Chiu for A Trip to the Hospital (A&U)
- Natala Graetz for Everyday Wonders (Everyday Wonders)
- Cindy Lane for Great White Shark (Claire Saxby, Walker)
- Emma Long for Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest (Diane Lucas & Ben Tyler, A&U)
- Cristina Neri for For Love (Lake Press)
- Michelle Pereira for The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name (Sandhya Parappukkaran, HGCP).
The shortlisted books were chosen from the CBCA 2022 Notable Books list, which was announced in February.
The CBCA also announced that this year’s prize pool will exceed $100,000 for the first time. CBCA chair Wendy Rapee said 2022 is ‘turning out to be a year of firsts’.
‘We saw a record number of award entries, a record prize pool, and right now young readers around Australia are being invited to choose their own CBCA Book of the Year from the shortlist for the first time. That’s for our new Sun Project: Shadow Judging, made possible by funding from the Australian Government RISE Fund.’
The Book of the Year winners will be announced at noon AEST on Friday, 19 August. For more information about the CBCA Awards, see the CBCA website.
Category: Awards Junior Local news
