Announcing the CBCA 2022 Notable Books

Where can you find cranky chickens, thoughtful coming-of-age stories and thrilling tales of Australia’s first scientists?

CBCA National Chair Wendy Rapee said it was a “watershed year” with entries topping the 600 mark for the first time, and a longlist that “represents the exciting and wide-ranging landscape of Australian children’s literature as it stands today”.

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its Book of the Year Award Notables List for 2022 and we’re very pleased to see many of our favourites have made the list.

For the full list of CBCA Book of the Year 2022 Notables please visit the CBCA website.

Book of the Year: Older Readers (Ages 13-18)

The Gaps by Leanne Hall (Text Publishing)

The Boy from Mish by Gary Lonesborough (Allen & Unwin)

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland (Penguin Random House Australia)

See the full list for older readers here.

Book of the Year: Younger Readers (Ages 7-12)

Are You There, Buddha? by Pip Harry (Hachette Australia)

Dragon Skin by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin)

Eliza Vanda’s Button Box by Emily Rodda (HarperCollins Publishers)

A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr (Penguin Random House Australia)

Seven Wherewithal Way by Samantha-Ellen Bound (Affirm Press)

Elsewhere Girls by Emily Gale and Nova Weetman (Text Publishing)

See the full list for younger readers here.

Book of the Year: Early Childhood (Ages 0-6)

Winston and the Indoor Cat by Leila Rudge (Walker Books Australia)

Hello World by Lisa Shannon, illustrated by Leila Rudge (HarperCollins Publishers)

Sharing by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, illustrated by Leanne Mulgo Watson (Magabala Books)

See the full list for early childhood here.

The Picture Book of the Year

Stellarphant by James Foley (Fremantle Press)

Enough Love? by Maggie Hutchings, illustrated by Evie Barrow (Affirm Press)

Bear and Rat by Christopher Cheng, illustrated by Stephen Michael King (Penguin Random House Australia)

See the full list for picture book of the year here.

Eve Pownall Award (Ages 0-18)

Book of Curious Birds by Jennifer Cossins (Hachette Australia)

The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia’s First Peoples by Corey Tutt, illustrated by Blak Douglas

No Way! The Wildest Mind-Blowing Facts in the Universe by Dan Marshall (Pantera Press)

Masters of Disguise by Marc Martin (Penguin Random House Australia)

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature by Sami Bayly (Hachette Australia)

See the full list for the Eve Pownall award here.