CBCA Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards 2023 winners

The winners of the 2023 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards, chosen by groups of young people, have been announced.

The winning books in each category are:

Older readers 

• Completely Normal (and Other Lies) (Biffy James, HGCP) 

Younger readers

• August & Jones (Pip Harry, Lothian)

Early childhood

• Lionel and Me (Corinne Fenton, illus by Tracie Grimwood, New Frontier)

Picture book of the year

• Frank’s Red Hat (Sean E Avery, Walker Books)

Eve Pownall Award

• Deep: Dive into Hidden Worlds (Jess McGeachin, Welbeck).

The Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards, which had its inaugural year last year, were judged by over 2000 young judges from more than 250 groups across Australia.

CBCA Shadow Judging national coordinator Jo Panckridge said the program ‘provides a unique opportunity to hear clearly the voices of young Australian readers to better understand what stories resonate for them’. ‘This is a program like no other in Australia. Their unique choices arise because the young reader is experiencing a different “emotional tug” even as they discuss and judge using the literary criteria. This is what building a dynamic reading culture looks like.’

For more information on the winners and the project, see the CBCA website.

Category: Awards Local news