Hey Everyone
Tuesday night I spent my evening at the Victorian Night of Notables for the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). It was a great night of networking, meeting new people, hearing some inspiring talks and seeing what has made it onto the notables list. I certainly don’t envy the task of the Judges to whittle this list of quality publications down.
For those of you unfamiliar with the awards, the CBCA Book of the Year it is simply affirming the quality of some of Australia’s creative people. This acknowledgement also goes towards promoting good literature for Australia’s young people.
I am happy to say that a lot of books on the notables list I have already shared with you on here or have a review coming up soon, I wish I could say I have read them all but there are simply too many for me to read. If you want to see the whole list you can view it on CBCA .
I thought I would share with you here the books that I have read that have made it onto the list.
The Picture Book of the Year
This is a small portion of books that have been chosen and all have beautiful qualities, the illustrations are just divine. I think children and those adults that read picture books are blessed because the illustrations that fill pages are of such a high quality and at times mesmerising, especially in Swan Lake by Anne Spudvilas. The full list has a wonderful collection of other books too.
The Book of the Year: Early Childhood
I love all these books but I just want to make a special mention of Olivia’s Voice. Both the illustrations and the story are something special, it heightens your senses and is equally engaging for children and adults. Also, Lucy’s Book is about a pretty special women childrens book daily , as well as being about Libraries which I wholeheartedly support.
The Book of the Year Younger Readers
I am in the process of reading Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables by Tim Harris which is such a fun book and I will be sharing a review with you within the next couple of weeks. The Shop at Hoopers Bend is a story which many tweens will relate to, especially when they face uncertainty and I am really happy to see on the list. There are so many on this list I haven’t had the pleasure of reading but I have read the blurbs and they all look like fantastic reads.
The Book of the Year: Older Readers
There are so many others on this list that I really want to read and their plot look fantastic. I am hoping that Sparrow by Scot Gardner wins because it is an amazingly complex book that is inspiring.
The Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
I have only read one book in this category, Do Not Lick This Book , but it was so much fun and a great learning experience. I have flicked through quite a lot of the other books and they are all so fantastic.
There has been so much good Australian literature that has come out in the last year that I am sure the judges are going to have a hard time picking their overall choices.
During the evening, I was inspired by the speeches by Demet Divaroren, Adam Wallace and Sarah Mayor-Cox who are all talented professionals. Their reflections included wanting to blow our minds, not all children are exposed to books and that books are a window into another world. Each reflection giving me much to think about.
It was a few words by Heather Zubek though that resonated with me most, in a nutshell she said Books are not only the beginning of a magical journey but the beginning of information and learning. Her words are a reminder that reading books is more than just entertainment, they are also a gateway to learning. Don’t get me wrong books are fun and should remain fun, but while children and YA are having fun their minds are being opened to new possibilities and are learning, often without even realising it. Thank you speakers for your inspiring talks.
Congratulations to all those that have made it to the notables list , I am super proud of the quality of Australian literature, the children of Australia are so blessed to have such good quality books at their fingertips, and for those children that don’t let’s make it possible.
Little Big Reads 