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

Platypus Bend by Diane Jackson Hill illustrated by Craig Smith

The rivulet begins high on a mountain top. It twists and turns and turns and twists 

until it swirls around a bend and softens into a calm pool...

No-one knows – but in that pool there is a secret.

We have some truly curious creatures here in Australia - the kangaroo, koala, numbat, wombat, potoroo, frilled-neck lizard, goanna, dingo, Tasmanian Tiger, emu, echidna, quokka, and birds like the kookaburra and lyrebird but one of my favourites is the platypus. Sadly, I have never seen one except in a zoo, and when you read Platypus Bend it is very clear why because this special solitary monotreme is very good at hiding in order to stay safe.

The joy of this book, apart from reading and learning more about the platypus, comes from the wonderful depictions of our Australian bush by Craig Smith. Take a look at this gentle video made by Craig Smith to showcase his book. And in this video Craig talks about his book. Please watch the video - it will give you a terrific insight into Craig's work as an illustrator.

Image source: Museums Victoria

As we observe the life of the platypus you need to notice the parallel story of the family who live near the creek. This illustration which is part of a larger double spread shows the family moving into their new home.

The fact section at the back of Platypus Bend made me smile with their creative heading - Platypus Particulars. 

Read about the Citizen Scientist project - The Great Australian Platypus search. Here are some classroom resources. 

I am sharing this book today (24th February) because tonight the CBCA will announce their 2026 Book of the Year Notable titles. I am absolutely certain Platypus Bend will be one of the over one hundred titles. Platypus Bend fits into the Eve Pownall Award for Non Fiction.

Look for other books in your local or school library about this curious creature [599.29] - The Platypus: In 2020 I penned this blog post. 

Here are three other books where Diane Jackson Hill and Craig Smith have collaborated.

Windcatcher

What the Sky Knows by Nike Bourke illustrated by Stella Danalis

 

My friend and I recently visited an enormous secondhand bookshop in the Southern NSW town of Berrigan. There were so many children's (and adult) book treasures. That is where I spied an old copy of What the Sky knows. Once upon a time this book was a library book (the date due slip is still inside) and it lived in Barooga which is near Berrigan - down on the Murray River.

I read this book to heaps of children in my former school library back in 2006 and twenty years later it has lingered with me (see my post from 2019). What the Sky Knows was published in 2005 and it was shortlisted in two categories for the CBCA’s Book of the Year (Early Childhood and Picture Book) in 2006. YES, I can heart you saying - but this book is long out of print and that is true - but I worry so much about our rush to find the newest book or newest thing or newest fad - which can mean older things like this scrumptious picture book are overlooked or lost in all the 'noise'. 

There are two things to notice about this book - one is the brief, but beautifully poetic text and the other is the retro-style collage illustrations. You can see the style of illustrations on this web page from Stella Danalis. 

I want to know what the sky knows

How to be blue

or grey

or pink

How to make clouds

or stars

Have tea with the angels

Hold the sun like an orange

or carry birds

I want to know how to make rain fall

or leaves dance

How to be so loud mum can hardly hear herself think

or so quiet she can't find me

I want to sail to the ends of the earth

And ride the wild winds home

If you can find this book in your school or local library it would be a wonderful text to use in an art lesson - you could share the text without the illustrations. Let the group work on their own creative images and then share the work by Stella Danalis. I would then share Mallee Sky as a contrasting text.

Bookseller blurb: This stunning picture book invites the reader to fly with birds and angels, float with clouds and balloons, to change colours, blow breezes and stir up storms. What the Sky Knows challenges the traditional way of reading picture and text. Stella Danalis has used visual tricks and jokes in a very contemporary manner which will immediately engage young readers. The illustrations are bright and vivacious, and like the text, full of imagination, curiosity and wonder. They make a strong initial impact through bold images and good use of primary colours. The variety of shades, patterns and textures, which are skillfully embedded within the pictures, create a collage effect. This additional detail contributes to the richness of the picture book and its ability to engage the reader. Follow a dreamer's journey through the vibrant landscapes of a child's world.

I think this might be the only picture book by Nike Bourke. Stella Danalis also illustrated Schumann the Shoeman.

2010 Shortlisted CBCA Picture Book of Year

Book Week Parades - the good and the not so good!

We have reached the end of another book week. Apart from my own childhood I have been participating and observing Children's Book Week celebrations sinch 1985. 

Components of Book Week here in Australia

• The CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Awards 

Fifteen judges read hundreds of books over about eight months; a long list (or Notables list of up to 125 titles in 5 categories) is announced in February; a short list in six categories (including New Illustrator) is announced and then in August the award winners and honour titles are announced. Hopefully over this time every school library has added many of these books to their library collections and more importantly has shared these books with groups in their libraries and with class teachers and also hopefully they might have shared other books by the nominated authors or illustrators and perhaps even explored the slogan through book choices. By the time Book Week is celebrated young readers in our Primary Schools, preschools, and High Schools should be familiar with many of the notable and short-listed books and also the slogan.

• The Book Week slogan

Twelve months before Australian Children's Book Week the CBCA announce the slogan, or some people call it the theme, and reveal the illustrator who will create the associated merchandise such as posters. Some of my favourite slogans from the past are: Sail Away with books 1987 (art by Bob Graham); Imagine if you will…. 1990 (art by Ron Brooks); Anywhere Anytime Anybook 1996 (art by Steven Woolman); Weave the Book Web 1999 (art by Junko Morimoto); Oceans of Stories 2003 (art by Armin Greder); Book Safari 2009 (art by Matt Ottley); Books light up our world 2015; Curious Creatures, Wild Minds 2020 (art by Gwyn Perkins); and Reading is Magic 2024 (art by Jess Racklyeft).

• In NSW we hold a Night of the Notables (longlist)
• In March the Shortlist is announced via a professional video
• August is Australian Children's Book Week

Now onto the topic of this post - 

• Costume Parades and dressing up for Book Week 

Here are my thoughts organised under the headings - good and no so good.

The Good:

I saw some great ideas this year. In one school the kids and the Teacher-Librarian made simple costumes at school - no pressure on parents, no 'winning' competitive parents, no need for parents to be experts at arts and crafts; everyone can be involved; no 'rich/poor' divide; and this must have been fun. Hopefully also it had the essential BOOK focus. 

Or there is this idea where children can borrow a costume (for free).

At Kingston Primary School in Tasmania's south, a book week costume library is open for business in the days leading up to the book week parade. The costumes have been donated and come with a book to match. ... Over the past three years, Ms Briant and Tasmanian independent politician, David O'Byrne, have put together costume libraries for five schools. So far, close to 300 children have borrowed outfits.

Another idea I saw was from a local school near me. The Teacher-Librarian asked the children to come dressed in a way that matched the 2025 Slogan - Book an Adventure - she wanted them to come as adventurers. (As a side note to this I also on Facebook one of our celebrity Teacher-Librarians and her library staff - she is in a private school, so she has actual library staff - all dressed up as travel agents or perhaps flight attendants - a fun way to link with the slogan).

Not so good: Here are some things to think about:

Should the costume relate to a book? My view is a resounding yes, but I did see a lot of television shows; movies; and computer game related costumes.

Should the costume book be Australian? I am not quite so adamant about this one, but I did see way too many teachers dressed up as crayons (The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt) and Alice in Wonderland (which I am going to say I doubt many of the teachers had read); Peter Pan; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Also, as usual there were lots of Where's Wally outfits and of course where would we be without Harry Potter or Snow White - easy costumes you can buy (assuming you are able to afford them) from chain stores.

Should the child carry a book if there is a parade or at least have a copy of the cover perhaps as a lanyard? My view is yes - this is all supposed to be a celebration of books and reading. 

Should the costume be for an actual book that has been READ and enjoyed by the child? Again, you know that I am going to say yes. I found it odd when I saw a young child aged 9 or 10 in a costume based on the George Orwell book Animal Farm for example. I recently read the term 'reverse engineering' - find the costume then find a book that somehow matches - I find that sad and completely the wrong way around. I also have an issue with dressing up as pirates - I saw this in a few schools and often as the costume of choice for groups of teachers. Modern day pirates are a real and terrifying. This topic needs to be treated sensitively especially if you have immigrant children in your school. It is also odd to see students in senior primary classes dressed as The Cat in the Hat or Thing One and Thing Two. Surely these are no longer the favourite books of children aged 11 or 12?

Should there be prizes? Absolutely NO in my opinion. Surely this is supposed to be a fun activity not a competition. I despair when things like this create 'winners and losers'. And this is even worse when parents think 'they' need to win!

Does the school need to have a book week dress up day? No - check out my previous posts about this. 2013; 2015; 2016; and 2022.

Thoughts from the CBCA:

Jo Panckridge is the national board chair for the Children's Book Council of Australia. She said the book week parade didn't need to be high stress for parents.

"The idea behind it being that children connect emotionally to a book or to a particular character and want to dress up and emulate them," Ms Panckridge said.

"It's since become a rush on Amazon to buy the best, biggest, blow-up marvel super hero comic outfit."

She said book week shouldn't be a chore. Ms Panckridge said book week is all about celebrating books and Australian writers.

"I would like to see it far more about reading, the love of reading, reading for pleasure and joining in creating this big youth culture where reading matters and reading is important."

The CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) turned 80 this year. The 1945 slogan was "United through Books" - that seems just as relevant today. Every CBCA State Branch organised their own celebration. I adore these images from Western Australia:

For their 80th Celebration the CBCA in South Australia gave their presenters a camellia which echoes the original prize given in 1945.

And finally this writer makes some important points:

CBCA Book of the Year 2025 Awards

How did I go with my predictions?
Image source (you can see all the winners here)

Younger Readers - YES I did pick the winner BUT NO I did not pick the honour titles (see below)

Early Childhood Picture book - I picked ALL three but in the wrong order

Picture Book of the Year - I picked ONE of the three but not the winner

All up it as been quite controversial year for me. I did not like three of the Younger Readers shortlisted titles but the judges awarded honours to two of them!  I was absolutely certain Afloat would win the Picture book category - at least it did get an honour. But what happened to A Leaf Called Greaf - this is a book that should travel beyond our shores to other English speaking countries such as US, Canada, and UK. It can stand up with the very best books about life and grief and sadness and healing - a spectacular book. I do hope it reaches an international audience. 

For the first time I attended a 'live' event where the winners were announced along with a celebration of another initiative run by the CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) called shadow judging. I have mixed feelings about this program. These awards are designed to reward literary excellence. YES we do want our young readers to read and enjoy them and this might seem strange but this is not the main focus of the judging. The shadow judges (small teams of readers in a range of schools) read the six short listed books and then select their 'winner' based on criteria.

In contrast the 15 adult judges read hundreds of books and spend around 8 months reading, thinking, writing reports, and meeting to talk about the books. I worry that the hoopla over the shadow judging 'winners' detracts from the importance, and dare I say gravity, of the real awards. On the other hand I was impressed by the short reviews given by students at this event today - all of these students, who judged either Older Readers and Younger Readers, had very clearly thought deeply about the books and the themes and story structures. There were 12 Shadow Judges at the event today who each spoke for 3 minutes. There were 380 school teams - I am not sure if this is in NSW or across Australia. 

There was a loud cheer for Laughter is the best Ending and for The Truck Cat which I am sure every child there had enjoyed this year as the selected book for National Simultaneous Stort time. That means this book did have an extra special amount of exposure with our students in their schools and school libraries. I previously talked about Birdy, Spiro and South with the Seabirds.

Here are a few snippets of comments from the twelve students. I worked with some students from one of my local schools and I was thrilled to see the way her speech had incorporated ideas from every member of their Shadow Judging team.

Some comments by students:

• Narrative tension
• Another masterpiece
• Messy complicated relationships
• A book not just to be read - it is to be felt!
• Intriguing whirl-wind
• Relevant social commentary
• Evocative and realistic
• Cheeky humour
• Rich life lessons
• Real life situations
• Vivid portrayal of change
• Clever cover and word play in the title
• Resilience to cope with failure
• Easy to read and easy to follow the plot

Here are the 2025 honour titles:

One Dung Beetle

How to Move a Zoo

Afloat

These long-loved things

Some thoughts about the CBCA event today at the State Library of New South Wales:

• The lovely new auditorium holds 144 people. Unfortunately there were slightly too many people/students at the event and so adult visitors had to stand at the back. 
• Craig Silvey was one of the guest presenters but his contribution was via video. He did share the first chapter of his forthcoming sequel to Runt (CBCA Younger Readers winner in 2023). The new book is Runt and the Diabolical Dognapping.

• This does not matter at all but I did observe that of the twelve shadow judging student presenters most were from independent schools and only one was a boy. AND yippee it was the boy who bravely said his allocated book was not his favourite of the six Younger Readers short listed titles - his honesty was fabulous. (His choice was Laughter is the best Ending).

Here are the full details of the winners in the six categories (Source CBCA):

Dragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson

A young, unnamed slave works for a tyrannical man who purports to be a dragonkeeper. At the time of this story in ancient China the current emperor as no interest in dragons. Now there are only two left, and it is up to the young slave girl to keep them alive in their dungeon home. One morning she discovers one of the dragons has died. Now the adventures begin. 

The dragon named Danzi tells the girl her name is Ping. He explains they need to travel to the ocean, and she needs to carry his dragon stone and keep it safe at all times. Ping only has one friend in the whole world - a rat named Hua. Ping only agrees to go on this journey if Hua can come too. And what a journey it turns out to be. Ping has never been anywhere since she was taken as a slave. They walk through the most amazing countryside and encounter some kindness but also lots of danger because there is a dragon hunter who wants to capture and eventually kill Danzi and for reasons Ping cannot understand he and others also want the dragon stone.

The scene when Ping sees the ocean for the first time (only a few pages from the end of the book) reminded me of the words from the Margaret Mahy Picture book - The man whose Mother was a pirate:

He hadn’t dreamed of the BIGNESS of the sea. He hadn’t dreamed of the blueness of it. He hadn’t thought it would roll like kettledrums, and swish itself on to the beach. He opened his mouth and the drift and the dream of it, the weave and the wave of it, the fume and foam of it never left him again. At his feet the sea stroked the sand with soft little paws. Farther out, the great, graceful breakers moved like kings into court, trailing the peacock-patterned sea behind them.”

You could compare these lines with the wonder of Ping:

"Something on the horizon reflected sunlight like a band of silver. As they drew closer the band became wider. ... The hill gave way to flat land. The silver strip became wider and wider and turned blue as they got closer to it. It wasn't solid, its dimpled surface was dipping and rising. ... Where the blue met the earth there were tiny rolls of white. Ping realised what she was looking at was water. It stretched as far as she could see to the north, to the south and east until it merged with the sky. Its size terrified. her."

I recently talked about reading stamina and long form reading. Dragonkeeper is 343 pages of fairly small print so a reader aged 10+ will need stamina and perseverance but the rewards are great. Luckily things are fairly well resolved at the end of this book but IF you want to re-enter the world of Ping there are several more installments. I took quite a few days to read Dragonkeeper and now I need to consider if I want to see the movie - I think it might disappoint me because there is no way the sweeping story and epic nature of this book could be effectively distilled into a 98-minute movie surely? If you are looking for a class read aloud this could be a good book to consider - but do read it for yourself first - read alouds only work if the teacher loves the book first! Do not kill the book but the teachers notes I have linked to below are excellent and have ideas you could pick and choose from. I won my copy of Dragonkeeper as part of a promotion of the movie - I am glad I set aside the time to read this sweeping adventure story. 

There are more plot details in this review.

Carol Wilkinson waves her pencil like a magic wand and creates a fantasy world set in 141 B.C. China that’s as real as your morning cup of coffee.  ... Ping and Danzi need all the goodness they can muster, because their journey and their lives are challenged by drunks, robbers, corrupt politicians and wizards of the underworld. Ping’s believability grows on you because she, like the nine- to twelve-year-old readers for whom the book is written, has flaws, limitations and self-doubts. In fact, Wilkinson gives us a character with which readers of all ages can identify. Historical Novel Society

I put three covers at the top of this post but you can see even more on Carole Wilkinson's web page. 

My favourite parts of this book were when Danzi the dragon offered words of wisdom to Ping. I am so happy to see the author of the teacher's notes took the trouble to collect these:

The teachers notes say: Danzi is constantly making intriguing statements that Ping doesn’t quite understand, for example: 

• “All answers lie beyond the gate of experience,” 
• “Composure is the master of haste,”
• “The journey of a thousand li begins with a single step,” 
• “The way of Heaven is to diminish excess.” 
• “It is because of its emptiness that the cup is useful.” 
• “Recognising one’s limitations is knowledge,” 
• “Sharp weapons are not the tools of the sage,” 
• “The skillful traveller leaves no trace,”
• “The straight path must sometimes be crooked,” 
• “Sometimes advancing seems like going backwards,” 
• “Nothing under Heaven is softer than water,” “Yet it can overcome the hard and the strong.”
• “The sapling is small, but none can defeat it,” 
• “Net of Heaven is cast wide. Though its mesh is not fine, nothing slips through.”
• “He who tries to take carpenter’s place, always cuts his hands,” 
• “The path is easy if you avoid turning off it.” 

Blurb from the author webpage: Ancient China, Han Dynasty. A slave girl saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon make an epic journey across China carrying a mysterious stone that must be protected. This is the story of a young slave girl who believes she is not worthy of a name but finds within herself the strength and courage to make this perilous journey — and do what must be done.

Here are some additional teacher's notes.

Awards:

• Winner 2018 Silver Award (Children's Book), Illustrators Australia Awards
• Winner 2014 Graham Davey Citation, Young Australian Best Book Award (YABBA) 
• Winner 2013 Gold Award – Book Series, Illustrators Australia 
• Shortlisted 2006 COOL (Canberra’s Own Outstanding List) Award
• Winner 2006 Older Readers, Kids Own Australian Literary Awards (KOALA)
• Winner 2006 Kalbacher Klapperschlange Award (Germany)
• Special mention 2004 International Youth Library’s White Ravens List
• Shortlisted 2004 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
• Winner 2004 Best Children’s Book, Queensland Premier’s Literary Award
• Winner 2004 Book of the Year (Younger Readers), Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards
• Winner 2003 Best Young Adult Book, Aurealis Awards

Check out my two previous posts:

• Read the book then see the movie
• Dragonkeeper movie review