KOALA and YABBA awards short lists 2026

KOALA Awards and YABBA Awards

I am going to focus on the Picture Book short list and the Years 7-9 because these categories include books I have read. You might like to check out two previous posts (KOALA 2022) and (KOALA 2024).

PICTURE BOOKS

Bigfoot vs. Yeti: A Love Story by James Foley

Bob and Dob by Sean E Avery

Dropbear by Philip Bunting

Emmie Builds Something New by Marjorie Crosby-Fairall

Happy Barry Capybara: Gone Bananas by James Foley

Mum for Sale by Zannie Louise and Philip Bunting

O.M.G: Oh My G.O.A.T! (G.O.A.T #3) by Kate and Jol Temple, and Rebel Challenger

Shmoof by Heidi McKinnon (you must also read Floof)

Spiro by Anna McGregor

Valerie: Australia's Bravest Sausage Dog by Lucinda Gifford

FICTION YEARS 7-9 (Many of these will appeal to readers in Grades 5 and 6 in Primary)

Andromache Between Worlds (Andromache #1) by Gabriel Bergmoser

Drift by Pip Harry

The Midwatch by Judith Rossell (In the US this book has a different title and a different cover)

Respawn (Villain Book #2) by Adrian Beck

Romeo v Juliet by R.A. Spratt (blog post coming soon)

Run by Sarah Armstrong

Silver Linings by Katrina Nannestad

The 113th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson

Villain by Adrian Beck

Waiting for the Storks by Katrina Nannestad

Details of the other shortlisted titles can be found here. I previously also talked about The Wicked Ship (Oceanforged #1); and Mim and the Baffling Bully. 

KOALA and YABBA part of the REAL Awards along with CROC from Darwin. REAL stands for Reading and Enjoying Children's Australian Literature. 

UKLA Book Awards 2026 Shortlist 7-10

The UKLA Book Awards are the only national (UK) 

children's book awards judged by teachers.

The UKLA Book Awards 2026 shortlist highlights a diverse range of outstanding children’s and young-people’s books across four age-based categories, spanning 3-14+. Hand-selected by teachers for their quality, creativity and relevance, these titles offer exceptional storytelling, engaging ideas and rich reading experiences.  Here is the full list of six shortlisted titles. These two are titles I have read (and loved) from the 7-10 Shortlist.

After. Written by Pádraig Kenny

Birdie. Written by J P Rose

Read more here including books for 3-6 and 11-14+

In addition to the two titles above which made the shortlist you can see the longlist and from the longlist I have talked about:

The Falling Boy. Written by David Almond

Leo and Ralph. Written and illustrated by Peter Carnavas AUSTRALIAN!!!!

Ghostlines .Written by Katya Balen

Fallout. Written by Lesley Parr (blog post coming soon)

Ettie and the Midnight Pool. Written by Julia Green and illustrated by Pam Smy

The DANZ Awards Longlist 2026

The DANZ Awards celebrate diverse children’s fiction published in Australia and New Zealand, honouring books that challenge stereotypes, push boundaries, and highlight diverse and marginalised communities, including those representing disability, culture, LGBTQI+, race and religion. 

The ASLA DANZ Awards aim to encourage inclusivity and spotlight authentic representation, providing marginalised voices with recognition and support. They also aims to influence book-buyers and educators to prioritise such works. The awards spotlight the wonderful books which provide mirrors, windows and sliding doors into different lives, and build empathy and understanding of people from all walks of life. 

PICTURE BOOK LONGLIST

From this list I have talked about

Bapa's Last Canoe; A Lemon for Safiya; and The Truck Cat

CHAPTER BOOK LONGLIST

MIDDLE GRADE LONGLIST

From this list I have talked about

The Silken Thread

2026-2027 Texas Bluebonnet Award long list

 

This prestigious list is composed of titles from creative, talented, and diverse authors. The titles on the list offer students in third through sixth grades quality fiction and nonfiction literature to be read for pleasure. The TBA selection committee considered a whopping 1006 books for this year’s list. You can see past winners from 1981 till the present here. 

Each year, more than 63,000 third-through-sixth graders from across Texas vote for their favorite title from the list. “Read 5, then decide” is a slogan known by school librarians, public librarians, and homeschooling parents across the state. The TBA Award winner is announced in the spring and will be honored in April at the TLA 2027 Annual Conference in San Antonio.

I was excited to see a few familiar titles on this list (especially since I am in Australia and not Texas). Books with ** are on my own to read list. 

• Another by Paul Tremblay. 
• The Black Mambas by Kelly Crull. 
• Danilo Was Here by Tamika Burgess. 
• Fowl Play by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb. 
• Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers by Angela Dominguez. 
• Gracie under the Waves by Linda Sue Park. 
• I’m a Dumbo Octopus! by Anne Lambelet. 
• Introducing Sandwina by Vicki Conrad. 
• The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio. 
• The Library of Unruly Treasures by Jeanne Birdsall.**
• Lola by Karla Arenas Valenti. 
• Mixed-Up by Kami Garcia. 
• Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate. 
• Safe Crossing by Kari Percival. 
• Saved by the Smell by Jarrett Lerner. 
• Speak Up, Santiago! by Julio Anta. 
• A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall by Jasmine Warga. 
• The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner. 
• Wanda Hears the Stars by Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced. 
• Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Illustrated by O. Ivanov. **

The previous list had a couple of my book favourites:

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All

Dogtown

CBCA 2026 Notables

Last night I attended the CBCA NSW Night of the Notables. I will pen a separate blog post to share the three books that were 'launched' at this event and other CBCA happenings. For now, I need to show you the 125 Notables and give links to a few of my blog posts AND as usual I will share a few of the titles I think should have 'made the cut' - I can these THE MISSING. 

Since I no longer work in a school library I am not going to attempt to read the fifty plus titles from three of these lists that I have not yet seen or read mainly because there are only four weeks to do this before the shortlists are announced and my own to read pile is out of control. Instead, I have listed a few that I am keen to borrow from a library or perhaps buy. Blue links take you to my blog posts:

Picture Book

A is for… A Rabbit’s Tale, Lucinda Gifford, text by Jackie Hosking (Walker Books Australia) 

Being Indy, Estee Sarsfield, text by Zoe Gaetjens (WestWords Children’s) 

Between, Anna Walker (Scribble) 

Bigfoot vs Yeti, James Foley (Fremantle Press) 

Bob and Dob, Sean E Avery (Walker Books Australia) 

Bored, Felicita Sala (Little Hare) 

Dawn, Marc Martin (Walker Books Australia) 

Dear Broccoli, Cate James, text by Jo Dabrowski (Affirm Press) 

Dropbear, Philip Bunting (Walker Books Australia) 

The Frog’s First Song, Jason Phu, text by Jazz Money (University of Queensland Press) 

Going for Pippies, Tori-Jay Mordey, text by Wilaaran Laurie (Magabala Books) 

Gone, Michel Streich (Thames and Hudson Australia) 

Hello Cocky, Antonia Pesenti, text by Hilary Bell (Scribble) 

Here Come the Cousins, Sarah Zweck, text by Maggie Hutchings (Thames and Hudson Australia) 

How My Family Says I Love You, Aurore McLeod, text by Yvonne Sewankambo (Walker Books Australia) 

Jo and the No, Judy Watson, text by Kyle Mewburn (Dirt Lane Press) 

My Mum is a Bird, Evie Barrow, text by Angie Cui (University of Queensland Press) 

Neville’s Great Escape, Sean E Avery (Walker Books Australia) 

Once I was a Giant, Zeno Sworder (Thames and Hudson Australia) 

One Day, Michael Speechley, text by Shirley Marr (Walker Books Australia) 

One Word and a Bird, Stephen Michael King (Scholastic Press) 

Rain on the Rock, Valerie Brumby, text by Jodi Toering (Bright Light) 

Some Days You’ll have Days Like These, Stephen Michael King, text by Josh Pyke (Scholastic Press) 

The Thing About Christmas, Briony Stewart, text by Jo Dabrowski (Little Book Press) 

Tiwi in Paris, Glen Farmer Illortaminni (Thames and Hudson Australia) 

On my own to read list now the Picture Book Notables have been announced I have Bored; Gone; The Thing about Christmas; Rain on the Rock; and Hello Cocky. I made my predictions a couple of weeks ago. I am pleased my top three - One day; Dawn; and Once I was a Giant made the notables. BUT here are a couple of books that are 

THE MISSING:

The Fishmonger and the Pastry Chef

The enchantment of the Golden eagle

A Hatful of Dreams

Emmie builds something new

Younger Readers

Chickenpox, Remy Lai (Allen & Unwin) 

Creature Clinic, Gavin Aung Than (Figment Books) 

Frances Bloom, Katrina Nannestad, illustrated by Marina Zlatanova (ABC Books) 

Ghost Guitar, TJ DOOM, illustrated by Nahum Ziersch (Penguin Random House Australia) 

The Hits and Misses of Melody Moss, Helen Dallimore (Penguin Random House Australia) 

How to Sail to Somewhere, Ashleigh Barton (Lothian Children’s Books) 

Inked, Karen Wasson, illustrated by Jake A Minton (Figment Books) 

Into the Bewilderness, Gus Gordon (Figment Books) 

Jungle Escape, Nathan Luff (Walker Books Australia) 

The Keeper of the Octopus, Neridah McMullin (Walker Books Australia) 

Little Bones, Sandy Bigna, illustrated by Tamlyn Teow (University of Queensland Press) 

The Making of Martha Mayfield, Jo Dabrowski (Affirm Press) 

Moonboy, Anna Ciddor (Allen & Unwin) 

The Paperbark Tree Committee, Karys McEwen (Text Publishing) 

Promises and Other Lies, Sue Whiting (Walker Books Australia) 

Run, Sarah Armstrong (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing) 

Seriously Soccer, Matt Stanton (ABC Books) 

The Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) 

The Silken Thread, Gabrielle Wang (Penguin Random House Australia) 

Something Terrible: Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces, Sally Barton, illustrated by Christopher Nielsen (Walker Books Australia) 

Song of a Thousand Seas, Zana Fraillon, illustrated by Aviva Reed (University of Queensland Press) 

Spirit of the Crocodile, Aaron Fa’Aoso & Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White (Allen & Unwin) 

The Surface Trials, H.M. Waugh (Allen & Unwin) 

Too Big to Be a Fairy, Kiah Thomas, Bec Kitson, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing 

The Year We Escaped, Suzanne Leal (Angus & Robertson)

I am planning to read The Year we escaped; The Surface Trials; and The Paperbark Tree Committee.

THE MISSING:

Trapped

Oceanforged: The wicked Ship

Danger Road

The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe

Early Childhood

The Bin Monster, Annabelle Hale (Affirm Press) 

Castle Crashing, Andrea Rowe, illustrated by Hannah Sommerville (Little Hare) 

The Colours of Home, Sally Soweol Han (Thames and Hudson Australia) 

Counting Crocodiles, Students from Bulla Camp Primary School (Indigenous Literacy Foundation) 

Derek, Anne Donaldson, illustrated by Matt Shanks (Little Hare) 

Dropbear, Philip Bunting (Walker Books Australia) 

Earthspeak, Sean McCann, illustrated by Jade Goodwin (Allen & Unwin) 

The Emperor’s Egg, Rae Tan (Lothian Children’s Books) 

Fly Mama, Fly!, Anna McGregor (Scribble) 

Frogs Are Our Friends, Toni D’Alia, Madeline White (Bright Light) 

Going Fishing with Nana, Frances Haji-Ali & Lindsay Haji-Ali, illustrated by Karen Briggs (Magabala Books) 

How to Help When You Really Want to Help, Davina Bell, illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper (Lothian Children’s Books) 

Laugh in the Bath, Rory H. Mather, illustrated by Brent Wilson (Little Book Press) 

Look, See, Find Me, Sandra Severgnini (CSIRO Publishing) 

My Father’s Arms, Toni D’Alia, illustrated by Mimi Purnell (Little Hare) 

My Nonno Loves, Adelle Frittitta, illustrated by Claudia Frittitta (Little Hare) 

Now You Are a Chicken, Andrew McDonald, illustrated by Ben Wood (Little Hare) 

Our Beautiful World, Sarah Speedie, illustrated by Margeaux Davis (New Frontier Publishing) 

Potion Commotion, Rebecca Grant, illustrated by Niña Nill (Affirm Press) 

Say Goodnight, Renae Hayward, illustrated by Rebecca Mills (Fremantle Press) 

Sidney of Sydney, Sue Whiting, illustrated by Liz Anelli (Walker Books Australia) 

The Thing About Christmas, Jo Dabrowski, illustrated by Briony Stewart (Little Book Press) 

The Train at the End of My Street, Tom Jellett (Affirm Press) 

What is a Dot?, Johanna Bell, illustrated by Amelia Luscombe (Thames and Hudson Australia) 

Where the River Runs Free, Vikki Conley, illustrated by Jedda Robaard (Windy Hollow Books) 

There are some important and possible familiar names on this list - people I have talked about previously such as Briony Stewart; Liz Anelli; Sue Whiting; Sally Soweol Han; Anna McGregor; Hilary Jean Tapper and Vikki Conley. 

You can see the Eve Pownall and Older Readers lists her. I previously talked about:

Foal in the wire (for ages 14+)

Drift

All About Antarctica

The Great Shark Egg Case Hunt

Platypus Bend

This Bird

Carnegie Medal longlists

The Carnegies are managed by CILIP, the library and information association, and celebrate outstanding reading experiences in books for children and young people.  They are unique in being judged by librarians, with the Shadowers’ Choice Medal voted for by children and young people. The awards aim to spark a lifelong passion for reading by connecting more children with books that will change lives. To celebrate this mission and make the shadowing scheme more accessible, 2026 marks the piloting of a new age-inclusive longlist shadowing offer that will run alongside the established shortlist shadowing scheme. This development is designed to open Carnegie shadowing to all ages and provide more choice to groups taking part. Source

The longlists were chosen from 127 nominations by the Judging Panel which includes 14 children’s and youth librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group.

You can see a full list of previous Illustration Winners from 1956 and Writing Winners from 1936. Notice our Australian names - Bob Graham (Jethro Byrde Fairy Child); Freya Blackwood (Harry and Hopper); Gregory Rogers (Way Home); and Ivan Southall (Josh). I was also excited to see a few of my own childhood favourites as past winners - The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge; The Borrowers by Mary Norton; along with some books I read during my early years as a Teacher Librarian such as Pack of Lies by Geraldine McCaughrean; Wolf by Gillian Cross; Skellig by David Almond; The Other side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo; Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech; Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce; and very recently I discovered The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros.

I am always pleased to see these lists and to cheer for books I have read and enjoyed and also to have titles to add to my enormous 'to read' list.

I have read these:

The Endless Sea

Don't trust Fish

High Ground

Birdie

Ghostlines

Wolf Siren

The winners will be announced on 23 June 2026. 

Here are images of the two sets of longlists - Illustration and Writing:

The Awards mission is: to champion librarians to inspire and empower the next generation to create a better world through books and reading.

We do this by:

• Celebrating outstanding writing and illustration for children and young people.
• Recognising a broad range of perspectives, experiences and voices.
• Championing the power of librarians to connect children and young people with outstanding books that represent their identities and help them shape a better world.
• Encouraging authors, illustrators and publishers to create more books for children and young people that reflect all identities and promote diversity.
• Promoting a readership and market that values diversity, representation and inclusion in books for books for children and young people.
• Challenging children and young people with a diversity of ideas and perspectives to promote empathy and understanding.

Best Australian Picture Book of all Time

 

The Guardian Australia

Illustration by Daniel Grey-Barnett

Which books will be nominated? 

Who will win - who will miss out?  
The title of this project implies ONE book will be selected
AND What is the expertise of the people who compile this list

It needs to be someone who knows which books are Australian because I am sure other books will be nominated. I'm thinking of Spot (Eric Hill), Dear Zoo (Rod Campbell), Elmer (David McKee), We're going on a Bear Hunt (Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury), any book by Allan Ahlberg, any book by Julia Donaldson, any book by Mick Ingpen, any book by Mo Willems, all Dick Bruna titles, Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins, and so many more.

 AND ...  OF ALL TIME.  I am sorry but I do think this is way too broad.

Here are the criteria:

To be eligible a book must be -

• Primarily intended to be read aloud to children who don’t yet read independently;
• Able to be read in a few minutes – we’re looking for a child’s picture book, rather than a graphic novel or illustrated chapter book;
• Written by an Australian (or someone we’ve claimed);
• Published in Australia.

I wonder what a 'few minutes' means. In my experience even the shortest very easy picture book takes around ten minutes to read. 

"Don't yet read independently" - does this mean ages 0-5?

AND what will they do if there are several titles by one author for example Possum Magic and Koala Lou (Mem Fox) and think about Pamela Allen or Margaret Wild who both have so many books that perfectly meet this criterion. Oh, and how many books will 'make the cut'? Top 10, top 20, top 100? And have they considered concept books, alphabet books, counting rhymes, or adaptions of nursery rhymes?

I do rejoice that this criterion does eliminate some 'golden oldies' such as The Magic Pudding; Snugglepot and Cuddlepie; and Blinky Bill. I know it is sure to be nominated but if Where is the Green Sheep 'wins' again I will sigh. It recently made the top 100 of the ABC Radio National vote. 

I also hope people who 'vote' realise that absolutely wonderful books such as John Brown Rose and the Midnight cat by Jenny Wagner; The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek and even Greetings from Sandy Beach by Bob Graham don't work for this list. I could list lots more examples. 

Here is another issue: What about a famous title like Are we There yet by Alison Lester? Surely it's way too long. Will 'someone' read each submission aloud to see if they meet the criterion of 'a few minutes'?

From the way the submission page is set out I think you can only nominate ONE book per entry but I still need to investigate this.  Anyway, I thought I would just pop some of my choices here (you can read about more of these if you search using my side bar):