Need a new book for the kids to get lost in? You’re in luck! The Children’s Book Council of Australia has just announced the shortlist for its 2020 Book of the Year awards. Get ready to have your book brains blown…

This year’s CBCA Book of the Year awards attracted a record 527 entries from much-loved authors and first-time writers. The shortlists cover six categories: Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Books, Eve Pownall Award (non-fiction) and the CBCA Award for New Illustrator.

Celebrating the best Australian authors and stories

CBCA National Chair Professor Margot Hillel OAM said the shortlist “paints a vibrant picture of Australia’s wildlife, history, people and Indigenous culture”.

“We have acclaimed Australian children’s authors Margaret Wild, Emily Rodda, Stephen Michael King, Anna Walker, Aunty Joy Murphy and Vikki Wakefield on the Shortlist, joined by first-time authors Helena Fox, Astrid Scholte and Sami Bayly,” said Prof Hillel.

“Yahoo Creek brings an obscure and baffling part of Australian history to life using newspaper excerpts to describe encounters by European settlers with the enigmatic ‘yahoo’ or ‘yowie’, a solitary ape-like creature said to inhabit the bush along the Great Dividing Range.

“Some of the world’s most unusual and unattractive species are celebrated in The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, a carefully researched and fascinating debut by natural history illustrator Sami Bayly.

“And Wilam: A Birrarung Story is a breathtakingly beautiful tribute to the Yarra River. As Birrarung meanders from the bush to the urban surrounds of the bay, we are taught the Woiwurrung language for its flourishing flora and fauna, which are captured by illustrator Lisa Kennedy in lush colour and detail.”

Keep on reading to see all the CBCA shortlisted authors, illustrators and books.

CBCA 2020 Book of the Year: Older Readers

• The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews, Hachette Australia.
• How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox, Pan Macmillan.
• Ghost Bird by Lisa Fuller, University of Queensland Press.
• When the Ground is Hard by Malla Nunn, Allen & Unwin.
• Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte, Allen & Unwin.
• This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield, Text Publishing.

CBCA 2020 Book of the Year: Younger Readers

• The Little Wave by Pip Harry, University of Queensland Press.
• The Thing About Oliver by Deborah Kelly, Wombat Books.
• The Dog Runner by Bren McDibble, Allen & Unwin.
• Catch a Falling Star by Meg McKinlay, Walker Books.
• The Glimme by Emily Rodda, Scholastic Australia.
• The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt, Walker Books.

CBCA 2020 Book of the Year: Eve Pownall Award

• The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals by Sami Bayly, Hachette Australia.
• Searching for Cicadas by Lesley Gibbes, Walker Books.
• A Hollow is a Home by Abbie Mitchell, CSIRO Publishing.
• Wilam: A Birrarung Story by Aunty Joy Murphy and Andrew Kelly, Walker Books.
• Young Dark Emu: A Truer Story by Bruce Pascoe, Magabala Books.
• Yahoo Creek: An Australian Mystery by Tohby Riddle, Allen & Unwin.

CBCA 2020 Book of the Year: Picture Book

• Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall, Hachette Australia.
• Nop by Caroline Magerl, Walker Books.
• I Need a Parrot by Chris McKimmie, Ford Street Publishing.
• Three by Stephen Michael King, Scholastic Australia.
• The Good Son: A Story from the First World War, Told in Miniature by Jules Ober and Felicity Coonan, text by Pierre Jacques Ober, Walker Books.
• Tilly by Anna Walker, Scholastic Australia.

CBCA 2020 Book of the Year: Early Childhood

• We’re Stuck! by Sue deGennaro, Scholastic Australia.
• One Runaway Rabbit by David Metzenthen, illustrated by Mairead Murphy, Allen & Unwin.
• Bat vs Poss by Alexa Moses, illustrated by Anil Tortop, Hachette Australia.
• When Billy Was a Dog by Kirsty Murray, illustrated by Karen Blair, Allen & Unwin.
• My Friend Fred by Frances Watts, illustrated by A. Yi, Allen & Unwin.
• Goodbye House, Hello House by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Ann James, Allen & Unwin.

CBCA 2020 Book of the Year: New Illustrator

• Louie and Snippy Save the Sea by Grant Cowan, Berbay Publishing.
• Paperboy by Bethany Macdonald, Dirt Lane Press.
• Fly by Jess McGeachin, Penguin Random House.
• Cooee Mittigar: A Story of Darug Songlines, Magabala Books.
• Baby Business by Jasmine Seymour, Magabala Books.
• Little Bird’s Day by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr, Magabala Books.

See the CBCA 2020 shortlist announcement

Congratulations again to all the authors, illustrators and publishers! The shortlists were announced online via YouTube for the first time in the awards’ history. You can watch the full video below.

The winners of the 2020 CBCA Book of the Year Awards will be announced on August 21, to coincide with Book Week. I’ll be sure to let you know who wins.

Until then, you can browse more book award shortlists, longlists and winner lists in our news section.