Children’s book awards shine a spotlight on small presses
Thursday, 21 November 2019
A number of Australian and international children’s book awards have been announced over the past month, and it’s interesting to see how many of the winning titles have been published...
Self-published ‘Dinner Detectives’ series to be adapted for TV
Thursday, 17 October 2019
Last year, Australian children’s book creators Yves Stening and Nigel Buchanan won a pitching competition at the world’s biggest children’s entertainment industry event, MIPJunior, for their self-published picture-book series ‘Dinner...
Twelfth Planet Press launches ‘inclusive’ imprint for pre-teens
Thursday, 19 September 2019
Australian genre publisher Twelfth Planet Press has launched a new imprint for pre-teen readers that will specialise in diverse stories, ‘with the aim to reflect the diversity of sexuality, race,...
Berbay to expand publishing program
Thursday, 22 August 2019
Melbourne-based children’s publisher Berbay Books has announced it will double its publishing list from eight to 16 titles in 2020. After a few years of ‘significant’ sales growth of its...
Allen & Unwin launches children’s imprint; Blabey series tops ‘NYT’ chart
Thursday, 18 July 2019
Allen & Unwin has created a new children’s imprint called Albert Street Books, which will have a ‘strong commercial focus’. The publisher says its aim is to publish books for...
Landmark Aboriginal Australian history gets a young readers edition
Thursday, 20 June 2019
First published in 2014, Bruce Pascoe’s landmark history of Aboriginal Australians pre-European colonisation, Dark Emu, will now reach a younger readership with the release of a young readers edition, Young...
A closer look at Australian children’s nonfiction
Thursday, 16 May 2019
In this issue of Think Australian Junior we take a closer look at the bestselling Australian children’s nonfiction with a new children’s/YA nonfiction chart (adding to the monthly rotation of Australian...
Kindness, environmental themes popular at Bologna
Thursday, 18 April 2019
Australian publishers have reported an ‘upbeat’ Bologna Children’s Book Fair, with middle-grade books continuing to dominate the market, and kindness and environmental themes emerging as new trends. Books with a...
Local voices on a global stage
Thursday, 21 March 2019
Two recent international rights successes for children’s books by Indigenous authors—Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina’s YA novel Catching Teller Crow (Allen & Unwin) selling into the UK and US, and a...
Bologna bound
Thursday, 21 February 2019
Eleven independent publishers, 15 children's book creators and one children’s laureate will set up shop at the collective Australian stand at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The publishers represented...
Self-published picture book series wins global pitching competition
Thursday, 22 November 2018
Australian children’s book creators Yves Stening and Nigel Buchanan have won a pitching competition at the world’s biggest children’s entertainment industry event MIPJunior for their self-published picture book series ‘Dinner...
Putting the anarchy back into childhood
Tuesday, 16 October 2018
A recent interview with bestselling Australian children’s book creators Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton—which coincides with the release of their latest book and this month’s top-selling Australian children’s fiction title...
Children’s, parenting titles popular at Beijing Book Fair
Thursday, 20 September 2018
Australian publishers who attended the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) in August have reported an interest in children’s, parenting and education titles. Ventura Press director Jane Curry sold the rights...
Southeast Asian storytelling inspires new picture book
Thursday, 23 August 2018
Australian picture books continue to find publishers overseas, with several large (Scholastic) and smaller publishers (Scribe, Fremantle Press) recently selling the rights to their titles to the US and China...
Australian publishers heading to Shanghai
Thursday, 19 July 2018
Looking for opportunities to meet Australian publishers face-to-face? A number of Australian publishers and literary agents will attend this year’s China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair in November after receiving...
Masters of the middle grade
Thursday, 21 June 2018
Several years ago Hilary Rogers, then a publisher at Australian children’s imprint Hardie Grant Egmont, commissioned author Sally Rippin to write the ‘Billie B Brown’ series. It turned out to...
Australian ‘Own Voices’ snapped up
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
‘The last few years has seen an increased focus in the US and UK on diversity in children’s publishing, with the emphasis more and more being placed on Own Voices,’...
Meet new Australian voices at the Intersection
Thursday, 19 April 2018
‘Commentators have been pointing out for decades how the children’s and young adult literary landscape has largely reflected one dominant, homogeneous story of privilege and power that rarely admits “outsider”...
Boarding call for Bologna
Friday, 16 March 2018
Last year, Australian publisher Allen & Unwin and Australian children’s literature promoters Books Illustrated announced they would combine their stands at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The newly created collective...
Gleitzman to be ambassador for Australian children’s lit
Wednesday, 14 February 2018
The position of Australian Children’s Laureate was created to ‘promote the importance and transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians’, and this week Morris...
Not your average children’s book awards
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Australia has a rich and varied book awards scene. In children’s books this includes the Australian Psychological Society’s Children’s Peace Literature Award and the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the...
Australian children’s books selected for international catalogues
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Several Australian children’s and YA books will soon be getting greater international exposure after being included in the prestigious IBBY Honour List and White Ravens catalogue. Two refugee stories—the YA...
Oz YA under the spotlight
Thursday, 21 September 2017
In this newsletter, we shine a spotlight on Australian young adult (YA) fiction. In our profile, we speak to literary agent, editor and YA advocate Danielle Binks about the state...
Two children’s publishers launch in Australia; Magabala celebrates 30th birthday
Monday, 14 August 2017
Two new Australian children’s publishers have recently released their first titles. Dirt Lane Press has published The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear (Margrete Lamond, illus by Heather Vallance), a...
Introducing ‘Think Australian Junior’
Thursday, 13 July 2017
Welcome to the first edition of the Think Australian Junior newsletter. We’re incredibly excited to be bringing the best Australian children’s and YA books to an international audience of publishers,...