Book Week has kicked off with the Children’s Book Council of Australia revealing the 2020 CBCA Books of the Year!
Begun in 1946, the CBCA Book of the Year awards are considered Australia’s most prestigious prize for children’s literature. Despite the ceremony’s virtual format, due to the ongoing pandemic, CBCA National Chair, Professor Margot Hillel OAM, said, ‘In such a difficult year, it’s a joy to be able to share this with you.’
Scroll down to see the 2020 CBCA Books of the Year!
Book of the Year: Older Readers
This Is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield
Sixteen-year-old Nate McKee is doing his best to be invisible. He’s worried about a lot of things-how his dad treats Nance and his twin half-brothers; the hydro crop growing in his bedroom; the way his friend Merrick always drags him into fights. And he has never forgiven his mother for leaving.
But none of it is his fight, right? He’s just waiting for his time. Nate hangs out at YouthWorks, the local youth centre threatened with closure, and fills his notebooks with the things he can’t say. But when some of his pages are stolen and his words are graffitied on the wall of the centre, Nate realises he has allies. He might be able to make a difference, change his life, and claim his future. Or can he?
Buy it here
Honour Books
The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews
Ghost Bird by Lisa Fuller
Book of the Year: Younger Readers
The Little Wave by Pip Harry
When a Manly school sets out to bring a country class to the city for a beach visit, three very different kids find each other and themselves.
Noah is fearless in the surf. Being at the beach makes him feel free. So where does his courage go when his best mate pushes him around? Lottie loves collecting facts about bugs, but she wishes her dad would stop filling their lonely house with junk. She doesn’t know what to do about it. Jack wants to be a cricket star, but first he has to get to school and look after his little sister. Especially if he wants to go on the class trip and see the ocean for the first time.
Buy it here
Honour Books
The Glimme by Emily Rodda & Marc McBride (Illustrator)
The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt & Katherine Quinn (Illustrator)
Book of the Year: Early Childhood
My Friend Fred by Frances Watts & A. Yi (Illustrator)
My friend Fred eats dog food for breakfast.
I think dog food is disgusting.
My friend Fred howls at the moon.
I don’t know why.
He does a lot of funny things.
But even though we are different, Fred is my best friend.
Buy it here
Honour Books
When Billy Was a Dog by Kirsty Murray & Karen Blair (Illustrator)
Goodbye House, Hello House by Margaret Wild & Ann James (Illustrator)
Picture Book of the Year
I NEED a Parrot by Chris McKimmie
I NEED a parrot
But…what does a parrot need?
A book about wanting and needing what a child wants and what a wild bird needs.
Buy it here
Honour Books
Nop by Caroline Magerl
Three by Stephen Michael King
Eve Pownall Award
Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
Bruce Pascoe has collected a swathe of literary awards for Dark Emu and now he has brought together the research and compelling first person accounts in a book for younger readers.
Using the accounts of early European explorers, colonists and farmers, Bruce Pascoe compellingly argues for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer label for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. He allows the reader to see Australia as it was before Europeans arrived — a land of cultivated farming areas, productive fisheries, permanent homes, and an understanding of the environment and its natural resources that supported thriving villages across the continent. Young Dark Emu: A Truer History asks young readers to consider a different version of Australia’s history pre-European colonisation.
Buy it here
Honour Books
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals by Sami Bayly
Wilam: A Birrarung Story by Aunty Joy Murphy, Andrew Kelly & Lisa Kennedy (Illustrator)
New Illustrator Award
Jasmine Seymour – Baby Business
Baby Business tells the story of the baby smoking ceremony that welcomes baby to country. The smoke is a blessing — it will protect the baby and remind them that they belong.
This beautiful ritual is recounted in a way young children will completely relate to.
Buy it here
Congratulations to all of the 2020 CBCA Book of the Year winners!
Find out more about the CBCA here.
About the Contributor
Olivia Fricot
Olivia Fricot (she/her) is Booktopia's Senior Content Producer and editor of the Booktopian blog. She has too many plants and not enough bookshelves, and you can usually find her reading, baking, or talking to said plants. She is pro-Oxford comma.
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