The Book of the Year - Early Childhood award began in 2001. In some ways that seems very recent but then I realised it is actually 20 years ago and so in this post there may be books that are unfamiliar to newer Teacher-Librarians or young parents.
You might be feeling a little confused about the CBCA award categories. I think an easy way to explain this is to divide the awards into two parts - awards by age group - Older Readers; Younger Readers; and Early Childhood and awards by format - Picture book and Eve Pownall for Non Fiction.
Let's compare the official criteria for the two picture book categories:
Picture Book of Year - Entries in this category should be books of the genre in which the text and illustrations achieve artistic and literary unity and the story, theme or concept is enhanced and unified through the illustrations. A picture book can be written and illustrated by a sole creator or a collaborative effort between two or more creators. The text and illustrations work cohesively. The illustrations are an integral part of or extend the meaning on the page. The age range for this category is 0 to 18 years.
Book of Year: Early Childhood - Entries in this category should be books suitable in content and style for pre and beginning readers for children in the age range 0 to 6 years (pre-school and infant level). This include works of fiction, poetry, wordless, board and concept books. The illustrations reflect all the text on the page and often do not add extra meaning to the storyline.
In this post I will explore some of the wonderful Early Childhood winners between 2001 and 2016 (fifteen years). Take a look at this previous post where I briefly listed over a dozen books in this category from 2001-2014. And in this post I looked at books illustrated by Stephen Michael King and Andrew McLean.
Book of the Year Early Childhood Winners
2001-2016
2001 – WINNER Catherine Jinks, You’ll Wake the Baby Illus. Andrew McLean
Andrew McLean has books on the CBCA lists seventeen times. One of my favourites is Reggie Queen of the Street. Andrew also illustrated The Squeak Street series and the four Hazel Green titles. I have two art works by Andrew McLean in my house thanks to Books Illustrated.
2002 – WINNER Bob Graham, ‘Let’s Get a Pup!’
Here is my post about Let's get a Pup. In the US this book had a sightly different title - Let's get a pup! Said Kate. An illustration from this book appeared on the cover of Horn Book Magazine in 2003. Here is my favourite part of this story: "He was small. He was cute. He was brand-new Dave climbed right over the top of Kate, who briefly wore him like a hat." In 2018 I compiled a post about Bob Graham. He has had 17 books featured in the CBCA lists up until 2019. This year his book Ellie's Dragon is on the short list and as I write this, two days before the winners are announced, I have great hopes this book will receive an honour award.
2003 – WINNER Penny Matthews, A Year on our Farm Illus. Andrew McLean
Here is a quote from my blog post which featured some IBBY Australia Honour books: "As the title and various tree images on the front cover suggest this book covers a year on an Australian farm. A family consisting of mum, dad and three children along with a collection of pets and other animals from the ‘chooks’ to the new spring lambs, populate this farm in rural Australia. There are hardships such as drought and the rush to bring in the harvest. Pleasures such as the arrival of new kittens, hand rearing a lamb and the usual tasks of hand-milking and shearing that connect farm lives everywhere around the world."
2004 – WINNER Pamela Allen, Grandpa and Thomas
Pamela Allen has given young readers so many fabulous books. I was talking with a friend about the delight her grandson aged 3 takes in hearing Waddle Giggle Gargle. Every year I used to read all of the Mr McGee stories to our library groups.
2005 – WINNER Mem Fox, Where is the Green Sheep? Illus. Judy Horacek
I would venture to say this book would rate as number one with nearly every toddler in Australia. It regularly appears on bookshop lists of favourite books. Take a look at Judy Horacek's web site. She has worked on four other books with Mem.
2006 – WINNER Deborah Niland, Annie’s Chair
Deborah Niland is the illustrator of There's a Hippopotamus on our roof eating cake. I read this book to Kindergarten every year for over thirty years. I think I can also recite the full text. Anne's Chair was an easy book to read aloud. Kirkus said: Niland’s brightly hued illustrations are as energetic as the tale. Bold graphic designs and contrasting patterns dominate, while her comic-style line drawings convey the full force of Annie’s imperial persona. Niland’s lighthearted tale carries a simple message about the art of sharing that toddlers are bound to enjoy.
2007 – WINNER Libby Gleeson, Amy & Louis Illus. Freya Blackwood
Amy and Louis had a completely different cover in the US. I talked about this book again recently when I was sharing a book about moving to a new house. One part of Amy and Louis that I really loved was when the characters saw shapes in the clouds. This links to a very old book that I adore called Clouds by Peggy Blakeley. Freya Blackwood illustrated her first picture book in 2003 - Two Summers by John Heffernan. It was short listed in 2004.
2008 – WINNER Aaron Blabey, Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley
2009 – WINNER Bob Graham, How to Heal a Broken Wing
Here are some comments from the Kirkus review: the illustrator’s “camera” displaying masterful control over pacing and perspective. ...it will draw a younger audience, and is imbued with ... sensitivity and sense of intimacy." Bob Graham has a brand new book Maxine. It is the sequel to Max (2011) and will be released next month.
2010 – WINNER Lisa Shanahan, Bear & Chook by the Sea Illus. Emma Quay
Take a look at my post about Bear and Chook by the Sea. This book is simply glorious to read aloud and it is a great book to begin a discussion about optimism and point of view. The other aspect of this book which is a fun one to explore is the theme of unlikely friends. My friend and I have collected over 130 books with odd pairs of friends. I do have a limited edition print from Bear and Chook.
2011 – WINNER Jan Ormerod, Maudie and Bear Illus. Freya Blackwood
2012 – WINNER Nick, Bland, The Runaway Hug Illus. Freya Blackwood
2013 – WINNER Emma Allen, The Terrible Suitcase Illus. Freya Blackwood
Read more about The Terrible Suitcase here. Many libraries had fun displaying old suitcases in 2013. Three winners, three years in a row for Freya Blackwood! I especially loved her illustrations in Banjo and Ruby Red (Libby Gleeson). The page where we see Banjo running and leaping is wonderful.
2014 – WINNER Jan Ormerod, The Swap Illus. Andrew Joyner
Jan Ormerod is the author of the wonderful wordless book - Sunshine. Sadly she died in 2013 and so The Swap was published posthumously. The the US this book is called The Baby Swap.
2015 – WINNER Libby Gleeson, Go to Sleep, Jessie! Illus. Freya Blackwood
Go to Sleep, Jessie was released again in 2018 with a new cover.
2016 — WINNER Anna Walker, Mr Huff
I think I perhaps took Mr Huff a "little too seriously". I interpreted this book as a study of depression but in my blog post I take a lighter approach and talk about being in a bad mood.
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