CBCA 2025 Notable Books announced

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its list of Notable Books for 2025. The list acts as the longlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

The books in each category are:

Book of the year: Older readers

• Birdy (Sharon Kernot, Text)
• Comes the Night (Isobelle Carmody, A&U Children’s)
• Deep Is the Fen (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
• Eleanor Jones Can’t Keep a Secret (Amy Doak, Penguin)
• I Hope This Doesn’t Find You (Ann Liang, Penguin)
• I’m Not Really Here (Gary Lonesborough, A&U Children’s)
• Into the Mouth of the Wolf (Erin Gough, HGCP)
• The Invocations (Krystal Sutherland, Penguin)
• Kate Forsyth’s Long-Lost Fairy Tales (Kate Forsyth, illus by Lorena Carrington, New Dawn)
• Liar’s Test (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Text)
• Look Me in the Eye (Jane Godwin, Lothian)
• Maria Petranelli Is Prepared for Anything (Except This) (Elisa Chenoweth, HGCP)
• My Brother, Finch (Kate Gordon, Riveted Press)
• My Family and Other Suspects (Kate Emery, A&U Children’s)
• Return to Sender (Lauren Draper, Macmillan)
• The Skin I’m In (Steph Tisdell, Macmillan)
• The Sweetness Between Us (Sarah Winifred Searle, A&U Children’s)
• Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U Children’s)
• A Way Home (Emily Brewin, MidnightSun)
• White Noise (Raelke Grimmer, UWAP)
• A Wreck of Seabirds (Karleah Olson, Fremantle)
• Wrong Answers Only (Tobias Madden, Penguin)

Book of the year: Younger readers

• Aggie Flea Steals the Show (Tania Ingram, illus by Anne Yi, Scholastic)
• Countdown to Yesterday (Shirley Marr, Penguin)
• Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Cassy Polimeni, illus by Hykie Breeze, UWAP)
• Fluff: Mess Up! (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)
• Hello Twigs, Look Who’s Grumpy (Andrew McDonald, illus by Ben Wood, HGCP)
• How to Break a World Record and Survive Grade Five (Carla Fitzgerald, UQP)
• Jy Goes for Gold (Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler, illus by Samantha Campbell, HarperCollins)
• The Kindness Project (Deborah Abela, Puffin)
• Landovel (Emily Rodda, A&U Children’s)
• Laughter Is the Best Ending (Maryam Master, illus by Astred Hicks, Pan)
• The Midwatch (Judith Rossell, HGCP)
• Ming and Ada Spark the Digital Age (Jackie French, HarperCollins)
• Oscar vs the Grand Old Dude Named York (Ross Curnow, Walker)
• The Other Shadow (Tania Ingram, Omnibus)
• Real Pigeons Power Up (Andrew McDonald, illus by Ben Wood, HGCP)
• Saskia Spark-Lee: Fundraiser Fail (Rebecka Sharpe Shelberg, illus by Sofya Karmazina, Walker)
• Shower Land 1: Break the Curse (Nat Amoore, illus by James Hart, Puffin)
• Six Summers of Tash and Leopold (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
• Small Acts (Kate Gordon & Kate Foster, Walker)
• Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger (Jackie French, HarperCollins)
• To and Fro (Anton Clifford-Motopi, A&U Children’s)
• Tweet (Morris Gleitzman, Penguin)
• Twinning BFFs (Not) (Alexa Moses, illus by Sofya Karmazina, Scholastic)
• We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord (Garth Nix, A&U Children’s)
• Worst Week Ever: Saturday (Eva Amores, illus by Matt Cosgrove, Scholastic)

Book of the year: Early childhood

• Amid the Sand Dunes (Andrea Rowe, illus by Hanna Somerville, HGCP)
• The Big Book of Australian Nursery Rhymes (Frané Lessac, Walker)
• Dinosaur in My Pocket (Ashleigh Barton, illus by Blithe Fielden, Lothian)
• Don’t Worry, Felix (Yohann Devezy & Katharine Alice, illus by Zoe Bennett, New Frontier)
• Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Tooth Fairy (And Some Things You Didn’t) (Briony Stewart, Lothian)
• Good Hair (Yvonne Sewankambo, illus by Freda Chiu, Walker)
• Happy All Over (Emma Quay, ABC Books)
• How to Make a Bedtime (Meg McKinlay, illus by Karen Blair, Walker)
• How to Move a Zoo (Kate Simpson, illus by Owen Swan, A&U Children’s)
• I Am Tree Rex (Mo Davey, Berbay)
• Just Like You (Natashia Curtin, Walker)
• Kittens Do Not Care for Baths (Ali Rutstein, illus by Niña Nill, HGCP)
• Meerkat Mayhem (Mem Fox, illus by Judy Horacek, Puffin)
• The Most Amazing Thing (Ian Hayward Robinson, illus by Matt Shanks, A&U Children’s)
• Night Watch (Jodi Toering, illus by Tannya Harricks, Walker)
• One Little Dung Beetle (Rhian Williams, illus by Heather Potter & Mark Jackson, Wild Dog)
• Over or Under? (Pip Harry, illus by Hilary Jean Tapper, Lothian)
• Reading to Baby (Margaret Wild, illus by Hannah Sommerville, Affirm)
• Sky Country (Aunty Patsy Cameron, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
• Spiro (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
• To Stir with Love (Kate Mildenhall, illus by Jess Racklyeft, S&S)
• Two Turtles (Kiah Thomas, illus by Jake Minton, Little Book Press)
• Willow’s Gumboots (Beverly McWilliams, illus by Hélène Magisson, MidnightSun)
• The Wobbly Bike (Darren McCallum, illus by Craig Smith, Walker)
• Worms Are Our Friends (Toni D’Alia, illus by Mica Purnell, Bright Light)

Picture book of the year

• A Leaf Called Greaf (Kelly Canby, Fremantle)
• Afloat (Kirli Saunders, illus by Freya Blackwood, Little Hare)
• Bernie Thinks in Boxes (Jess Horn, illus by Zoe Bennett, Affirm)
• Dragon Folding (Christopher Cheng, illus by Lucia Masciullo, Puffin)
• Footprint (Phil Cummings, illus by Sally Soweol Han, A&U Children’s)
• For 60,000 Years (Marlee Silva, illus by Rhys Paddick, Scholastic)
• The Garden of Broken Things (Freya Blackwood, HarperCollins)
• General Waste (Michel Streich, Scholastic)
• Grow Big, Little Seed (Bec Nanayakkara, illus by Sarah Capon, Bright Light)
• House (Dan Giovannoni, illus by Charlotte Lane, Fremantle)
• The Land Recalls You (Kirli Saunders, illus by David Cragg & Noni Cragg, Scholastic)
• Listen, Hippo! (Gabriel Evans, Puffin)
• Night Watch (Jodi Toering, illus by Tannya Harricks, Walker)
• The Space Between (Jess McGeachin, Penguin)
• Stickboy (Rebecca Young, illus by Matt Ottley, Scholastic)
• Then and Now (Datsun Tran, Slingshot Books)
• These Long-Loved Things (Josh Pyke, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic)
• Three Dresses (Wanda Gibson, UQP)
• Tilly in a Tangle (Margrete Lamond, illus by Monty Lee, Dirt Lane)
• The Truck Cat (Deborah Frenkel, illus by Danny Snell, Bright Light)
• Two Turtles (Kiah Thomas, illus by Jake A Minton, Little Book)
• Walking Together (Coral Vass, illus by Dub Leffler, Scholastic)
• We Live in a Bus (Dave Petzold, Thames & Hudson)
• Why I Love Christmas (Michael Wagner, illus by Tom Jellett, Penguin)
• Words That Taste Like Home (Sandhya Parappukkaran, illus by Michelle Pereira, Bright Light)

Eve Pownall Award

• All About the Brain (Gabriel Dabscheck, Berbey)
• Always Was, Always Will Be (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, Magabala)
• The Anti-Racism Kit (Sabina Patawaran & Jinyoung Kim, illus by Emma Ismawi, HGCP)
• Australia’s Baby Animals (Jess Racklyeft, Affirm)
• Before the Mountain Had a Name (Fiona Levings, Forty South)
• Come Together Again (Isaiah Firebrace, illus by Jaelyn Biumaiwai, HG Explore)
• Design & Building on Country (Alison Page & Paul Memmott, illus by Blak Douglas, Thames & Hudson)
• Extreme Animal Facts (Jennifer Cossins, Lothian)
• Flora: Australia’s Most Curious Plants (Tania McCartney, NLA)
• Follow Your Gut (Ailsa Wild & Lisa Stinson, with Briony Barr & Gregory Crocetti, illus by Ben Hutchings, Scribe)
• I Am a Magpie, I Am a Currawong (Bridget Farmer, Black Cockatoo Books)
• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals (Sami Bayly, Lothian)
• Into the Ice: Reflections on Antarctica (Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch, A&U Children’s)
• Making the Shrine: Stories from Victoria’s War Memorial (Laura J Carroll, The Crossley Press)
• Now for the Good News (Planet Ark Environmental Foundation, illus by Sarah Wiecek, Penguin)
• Plantabulous! More A to Z of Australian Plants (Catherine Clowes, illus by Rachel Gyan, CSIRO)
• Seed to Sky: Life in the Daintree (Pamela Freeman, illus by Liz Anelli, Walker)
• Sensational Australian Animals (Stephanie Owen Reeder, illus by Cher Hart, CSIRO)
• South with the Seabirds (Jess McGeachin, A&U Children’s)
• Sunny Finds His Song (Catherine Storey & Penny Watson, illus by Sarah Matsuda, Wet Season Books)
• Too Many Tigers (Monica Reeve, Forty South)
• Unreal (Kate Simpson, illus by Leila Rudge, A&U Children’s)
• Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu (Diane Lucas & Ben Tyler, illus by Emma Long, A&U Children’s)
• Wedge-Tailed Eagle (Claire Saxby, illus by Christina Booth, Walker)
• When the World Was Soft (Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation, illus by Alex Mankiewicz, A&U Children’s).

The shortlists for the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year Awards will be announced on 25 March. The winners will be announced on 15 August. The Sun Project: Shadow Judging Book of the Year, for which groups of young people across Australia vote for one winner per category from the 2025 shortlist, will also be announced on 15 August.

Children’s Book Week will run on 16–23 August.

More information about the CBCA Awards and this year’s Notables list is available on the CBCA website.

Category: Local news