Middle-grade series, queer YA romances: CYA books Aus publishers are pitching

Picture books

Allen & Unwin Children’s (A&U) is pitching a list of exciting new titles from beloved authors, including the picture book Shadow Catchers by award-winning team Kirsty Murray and Karen Blair, that captures the joy of playing with shadows; and Big Cat, a richly illustrated story about finding your inner wildness in unexpected places, growing confidence and embracing change, from Jess Racklyeft.

Affirm Press is excited to showcase Today You Changed the World! by Maggie Hutchings and Evie Barrow, inviting kids to make change for themselves and for others; Jane Godwin collaborates with emerging illustrator Sylvia Morris on The Best Hiding Place, a rich and atmospheric picture book capturing the magic of hide-and-seek; and This is Love by Zanni Louise and Sasha Haddad (2023) celebrates all the ways we can share and show our love.

Hachette is also celebrating love and family through 11 Words for Love by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Maxine Beneba Clarke, a gentle picture book about a family who flees their homeland to find safety in another country, carrying ‘little more than a suitcase full of love’; and Little Treasure by Chanelle Gosper and Jennifer Goldsmith, a tender book on the bond between mother and child.

Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) will be highlighting: All the Love in the World by Louise Fedele (illustrated by Ana Toro), a bedtime story that goes across the globe to show all the different ways we express our love; Come Over to My House (Eliza Hull & Sally Rippin, illus by Daniel Gray-Barnett), a ‘delightful picture book that explores the home lives of children and parents who are Deaf or disabled’; Democracy! by one of Australia’s well-loved picture book creators Philip Bunting, an easily digestible guide to democracy for young readers; and Tricked: A how-to guide to magic by Consentino.

Bologna Prize-nominated publisher EK Books is promoting Tree Beings by Raymond Huber and Sandra Severgnini, an illustrated nonfiction picture book taking young readers on an adventure through the secret world of trees. Tree Beings, which won the Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children’s Literature, also features a foreword by anthropologist Jane Goodall.

Also look out for these books on EK Books’ list: This is My Dad by Dimity Powell and Nicky Johnston; Where the Heart Is by Irma Gold and Susannah Crispe; Jørn’s Magnificent Imagination by Coral Vass and Nicky Johnston; and Violin and Cello by Catherine Greer, Joanna Bartel and Alexander Lau.

The Garden at the End of the World by Cassy Polimeni and Briony Stewart (UQP), an ‘enchanting’ journey to the Global Seed Vault in Norway taken by Isla and her botanist mother when they find a rare plant. Also putting nature front and centre is Pete Cromer’s Birdlife (Five Mile), a ‘stunning’ picture book for animal and art lovers of all ages.

Five Mile will also be pitching the next book in the ‘Human Kind’ series, Patience (Zanni Louise, illus by Missy Turner); Australian TV host and food writer Melissa Leong’s A Taste of Adventure, celebrating the ‘staples in multicultural Australian cuisine’; and two books in Kasey Rainbow’s board book series, Australia Way Up High and Australia Way Down Low.

From Penguin Random House Australia, Zoë Foster Blake is back with Battle Mum, in which it’s mum who doesn’t want to stop play fighting. The role-reversal picture book features Adele K Thomas’s illustrations which match the author’s energy effortlessly. Jordan Collins and Myo Yim bring a ‘gorgeous’ retelling of The Wizard of Oz in Dorothy—a beautiful landscape of homecoming, belonging and identity. Meanwhile, Jacqueline Harvey and Kate Isobel Scott are back with their second picture book, The Daring Tale of Gloria the Great, a rollicking picture book inspired by a real adventure of a one-of-a-kind chicken, Gloria.

Junior and middle-grade

Australian publishers will be pitching several new series at Frankfurt. Look out for Lian Tanner’s new middle-grade series ‘Dragons of Hallow’ from A&U. The first book Spellhound is a whimsical fantasy quest novel featuring ‘snappy dragons, adorable minch-wiggins and an extremely large, loveable puppy with mysterious magical powers’.

Hilary Rogers and Meredith Badger come together under the pen name Maddy Mara to bring junior readers the ‘Itty Bitty Kitty’ series (Affirm Press), a funny and accessible title starting Itty Bitty, the kitten ready to take on the world, and featuring illustrations by Noémie Gionet Landry. Also on offer is The Deadly Daylight, the first book in Ash Harrier’s ‘Alice England Mysteries’ series from Pantera Press, which follows neurodiverse 12-year-old Alice England who comes across a peculiar death while working at her father’s funeral home and attempts to solve it with the help of some new friends.

Meanwhile, Hachette is excited for Jane Godwin’s first book in her new junior series ‘The Isabelle Stories’, a four-in-one book following six-year-old Isabelle and the trials and triumphs in her world; and from UQP is the first book in ‘The Wish Sisters’ a new junior fiction series by Allison Rushby, about a pair of sisters who are granted unlimited wishes. Packed full of ‘cinematic illustrations’ by Chris Kennett, HGCP will be pitching the first book in Jack Henseleit’s new ‘Cross Bones’ series following four furry pirates, A Dog’s Breakfast.

HarperCollins will be promoting two series at Frankfurt: Ash Barty’s ‘Little Ash’ series, written with Jasmin McGaughey and illustrated by Jade Goodwin; and ‘The Odds’ by the creator of the ‘Funny Kid’ series, Matt Stanton.

Stand-alone novels Australian publishers are excited to showcase include Get Your Act Together, Doris Kozlowski! (Affirm), a ‘hilarious’ and ‘relatable’ book on friendship and identity by Jo Dabrowski; The Gargoyle (Hachette) by The Bone Sparrow author Zana Fraillon, a story about conservation, ageing and legacies; and The Reindeer and the Submarine by Beverley McWilliams (Pantera Press), inspired by true events involving an orphaned reindeer who was captured and gifted to the crew of a British submarine in World War II.

HarperCollins is excited to highlight the award-winning Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad, and her new historical fiction title Waiting for the Storks, as well as the Children’s Book Council Australia-shortlisted title The Boy and the Elephant by award-winning illustrator and storyteller Freya Blackwood. Also from HarperCollins is Kelli Anne Hawkin’s ‘quirky’ new book Bird Brain.

From the award-winning author of My Brother Ben, Peter Carnavas, comes Leo and Ralph (UQP), a story about 10-year-old Leo and his imaginary friend Ralph who refuses to give up on him.

Young adult

From A&U comes a new dual-narrative queer YA novel by Will Kostakis. We Could Be Something is described by the publisher as ‘a warm, emotional, romantic rollercoaster of a novel about two young men who are each on a journey of discovery’.

Alice Boyle’s Dancing Barefoot from Text Publishing is a ‘feel-good romance about growing up queer, figuring out your place in the world, staying true to yourself and your friends, finding love, and learning to embrace the obstacles life throws in your path’.

Also from Text is Unnecessary Drama,  a ‘deliciously entertaining’ rom-com set in a run-down student house in Melbourne, from Nina Kenwood, author of the much-loved It Sounded Better In My Head.

Newcastle-based children’s publisher Daisy Lane Publishing, established by writer Jennifer Sharp, will be pitching The Bards of Birchtree Hall by Amanda Maynard-Schubert. The first title in the YA fantasy trilogy ‘The Stormbringer Chronicles’, The Bards of Birchtree Hall follows Neala Moran who moves to Ireland and immediately notices strange things happen that she can’t explain. Discovering a family secret that flows in her blood, Neala must learn to control her elemental powers and affinity with storms.

Finally, Hachette is looking forward to pitching Karen Comer’s debut YA verse novel Grace Notes, which follows a young busking violinist and an aspiring street artist whose paths collide during Melbourne’s 2020 pandemic lockdown. ‘It’s a love story, at its heart, but it’s also a book about young people using art to make sense of the world around them, and to shape it too,’ said the publisher.

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