Inside the CBCA Shortlist Before reading this satire, children guess what the title means. What might the Orange 430 itself be? What could be the relevance of this numeral? The All New Must Have Orange 430 (Penguin Random House Australia) is a humorous, although cautionary, tale about Harvey who must have the new Orange 430 […]
Read More The All New Must Have Orange 430 by Michael SpeechleyInside the CBCA Shortlist Heads and Tails: Insects (Berbay Publishing) is cleanly and consummately designed to appeal to young children and either elicit or nurture their interest in insects. The form of the clues in the narrative is deliberately repetitive, with every sentence beginning with the word, “I”. The book begins: “I live in a […]
Read More Heads and Tails: Insects by John CantyInside the CBCA Shortlist Sorry Day (National Library of Australia) skilfully tells brief, powerful stories from Australia’s past and recent past about lost and stolen children. The earlier story is told in italics. In the recent past, Maggie and her mother are present in Canberra in 2008 when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes the first […]
Read More Sorry Day by Coral Vass & Dub LefflerInside the CBCA Shortlist Author-poet Lorraine Marwood won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction in 2010 for Star Jumps. Her new verse novel Leave Taking (University of Queensland Press) is of similar quality and has already shared the winning prize in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards (Patricia Wrightson Prize). Both books are set […]
Read More Leave Taking by Lorraine MarwoodInside the CBCA Shortlist Our Birds: Ŋilimurruŋgu Wäyin Malanynha (Magabala Books) is written by 15-year-old Yolŋu girl Siena Mayutu Wurmarri Stubbs. She introduces herself by saying, “my malk, or skin, is Gutjan, I am a Gumatj girl from the Yirritja moiety.” The book is set in Arnhem Land, where she lives, and its creation enabled […]
Read More Our Birds: Ŋilimurruŋgu Wäyin Malanynha by Siena StubbsInside the CBCA Shortlist The Art of Taxidermy (Text Publishing) is a verse novel. This form is here used in an original way to express the grief caused by death. Sensitivity may be needed for grieving students. Lottie/ Charlotte’s mother has died and she is now becoming very interested in dead creatures. I keep them […]
Read More The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon KernotInside the CBCA Shortlist The bandicoot is a fascinating Australian native animal but is often forgotten, overshadowed by kangaroos, koalas, platypuses and wombats – the animals in books like Alison Lester’s shortlisted Noni the Pony Rescues a Joey. The Easter Barred Bandicoot is, of course, featured in this book. At times it is important to […]
Read More Bouncing Back: An Eastern Barred Bandicoot Story by Rohan Cleave & Coral TullochInside the CBCA Shortlist When the Ground is Hard (Allen & Unwin) is an original, ultimately empowering young adult novel. Thank you for speaking to Paperbark blog, Malla. Where are you based and why have you written a YA novel after a career writing crime fiction? I live in a weatherboard house in Sydney and […]
Read More Malla Nunn and When the Ground is HardInside the CBCA Shortlist Black Cockatoo (Magabala Books) is written by Jaru & Kija man Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler and is illustrated by Dub Leffler, who also illustrated Sorry Day, which is shortlisted in the CBCA Eve Pownall category. It is a memorable story about an Aboriginal family living in the Kimberley. Thirteen-year-old Mia […]
Read More Black Cockatoo by Carl Merrison & Hakea HustlerThanks for speaking with Paperbark blog, Remy. Thank you for having me! I was impressed and touched while reading Pie in the Sky (Walker Books Australia), your debut novel illustrated with comics about Jingwen, his younger brother Yanghao and their mother who move to Australia. You have shared intense feelings and experiences while keeping the […]
Read More Remy Lai and Pie in the Sky
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