INSIDE THE CBCA 2025 SHORTLIST & WINNERS
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shortlisted Books for 2025 have been announced.
Follow the links to those books I have already reviewed, or interviewed the author or illustrator, at PaperbarkWords blog. I will add to this list until the winners are announced in August.
Congratulations to those creators who have been shortlisted. Commiserations to those who have created great books but have missed out on these awards. There have certainly been some surprises this year …
BOOK OF THE YEAR:
OLDER READERS
- A Wreck of Seabirds by Karleah Olson (Fremantle Press) Author interview
- Birdy by Sharon Kernot (Text Publishing) HONOUR, Shadow Judging WINNER Guest author post
- Comes the Night by Isobelle Carmody (A&U Books for Children and Young Adults) Author interview
- I’m Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (A&U Books for Children and Young Adults) WINNER Author interview
- Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing) HONOUR Author interview
- The Skin I’m In by Steph Tisdell (Macmillan Australia)
Additional reviews or material about books on this list to feature soon
BOOK OF THE YEAR:
YOUNGER READERS
- Aggie Flea Steals the Show by Tania Ingram, illustrated by A. Yi (Scholastic Australia) HONOUR Author interview
- Fluff: Mess Up! by Matt Stanton, illustrated by Matt Stanton (ABC Books) HONOUR Interview with Matt Stanton
- Laughter is the Best Ending by Maryam Master, illustrated by Astred Hicks (Pan Australia) WINNER, Shadow Judging WINNER Author & Illustrator interview
- Saskia Spark-Lee: Fundraiser Fail by Rebecka Sharpe Shelberg, illustrated by Sofya Karmazina (Walker Books Australia) Author interview with Rebecka Sharpe Shelberg
- Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger by Jackie French (HarperCollins AU) Interview with Jackie French
- To and Fro by Anton Clifford-Motopi (A&U Books for Children and Young Adults) Guest author post
Additional reviews or material about books on this list to feature soon
PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR
- Afloat by Freya Blackwood, text by Kirli Saunders (Little Hare) HON)UR
- The Garden of Broken Things by Freya Blackwood (HarperCollins AU) Author/illustrator interview
- A Leaf Called Greaf by Kelly Canby (Fremantle Press)
- These Long-Loved Things by Ronojoy Ghosh, text by Josh Pyke (Scholastic Australia) HONOUR
- The Truck Cat by Danny Snell, text by Deborah Frenkel (Bright Light) WINNER, Shadow Judging WINNER Author & illustrator interview
- We Live in a Bus by Dave Petzold (Thames & Hudson Australia) Author/illustrator interview
Additional reviews or material about books on this list to feature soon
BOOK OF THE YEAR:
EARLY CHILDHOOD
- Don’t Worry, Felix by Yohann Devezy & Katharine Alice, illustrated by Zoe Bennett (New Frontier Publishing) Guest author post
- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Tooth Fairy (And Some Things You Didn’t) by Briony Stewart (Lothian Children’s Books)
- How to Move a Zoo by Kate Simpson, illustrated by Owen Swan (A&U Books for Children and Young Adults) HONOUR Guest author piece by Kate Simpson and interview with Owen Swan
- One Little Dung Beetle by Rhian Williams, illustrated by Heather Potter & Mark Jackson (Wild Dog Books) HONOUR Author interview
- Spiro by Anna McGregor (Scribble) Shadow Judging WINNER
- The Wobbly Bike by Darren McCallum, illustrated by Craig Smith (Walker Books Australia) WINNER
Additional reviews or material about books on this list to feature soon
EVE POWNALL AWARD
- Always Was, Always Will Be by Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson (Magabala Books) WINNER Guest author post
- Design & Building on Country by Alison Page & Paul Memmott, illustrated by Blak Douglas (Thames & Hudson Australia)
- Flora: Australia’s Most Curious Plants by Tania McCartney (NLA Publishing) Shadow Judging Joint WINNER
- I am a Magpie, I am a Currawong by Bridget Farmer (Black Cockatoo Books) Author/illustrator interview
- Making the Shrine: Stories From Victoria’s War Memorial by Laura J Carroll (The Crossley Press) HONOUR
- South With the Seabirds by Jess McGeachin (A&U Books for Children and Young Adults) HONOUR, Shadow Judging Joint-WINNER Author/illustrator interview
Additional reviews or material about books on this list to feature soon
Book of the Year:
New Illustrator
- A Teaspoon of Light, Nisaluk Chantanakom (WestWords) Illustrator interview
- Digger Digs Down, Huni Melissa Bolliger (University of Queensland Press) Illustrator & author interview
- Grow Big, Little Seed, Sarah Capon (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing) WINNER
- Peek-a-Boo Lottie, Kristen Willis (Five Mile Books)
- Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu, When I was a little girl, Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr (Magabala Books)
- The Land Recalls You, David Cragg & Noni Cragg (Scholastic Australia)
Additional reviews or material about books on this list to feature soon
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The 2025 CBCA winners will be announced in Book Week in August.
Thank you to the publishers who have kindly sent me review copies and to the authors and illustrators who have responded so generously by answering interview questions and writing about their books.
To the authors, illustrators and publishers – apologies if I don’t feature your book. It is most likely because I haven’t been able to access a copy.
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