I recently discovered this interesting article from IBBY Chile which explores twenty-eight children's choice awards. Our own KOALA awards participated in this survey from around the world.
It is interesting to see the list of possible reasons from this survey for a children's choice award:
- Promote children’s right to participation.
- Foster and encourage the pleasure of reading.
- Improve literary skills and stimulate critical reading of texts.
- To support and stimulate children’s reading.
- To make visible and/or promote the institution that organizes the literary prize or the works it produces.
- Educational purposes.
- Academic research purposes and subsequent fulfillment.
- Literary market research
- Publishing houses and/or authors apply directly.
- A selection of books is chosen from all the works published within
- a time-period.
- Members of the jury nominate books.
- Adults who are experts in the field present books
- Groups work with an adult facilitator.
- Read the six books in one category from the 2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Shortlist.
- Discuss the books and create a Creative Responses to share.
- Vote collaboratively to nominate a winner in their category.
- The CBCA Shadowers’ Choice Awards will be announced in August, 2024.
I spoke with a group of Shadow judges in a local school this week. I was so impressed with their intelligent approach to this task. I really wanted them to understand this is a serious program and not about popularity. Literary merit is a complex idea, but I explained the process followed by the adult judges (I was one in 2021-23) and the fact that the judges for their category (Younger Readers) will have read over 120 books over ten months selecting 25 for a notable list, 6 for the short list (the books they are reading) and then the three final choices and one winner. The shadow team work with an abridged form of the actual judging criteria. We talked about cover design, title words, blurbs, linking the book with life experience, and audience. I suggested they might like to select a small extract from the book which they would use to 'sell' the book to a peer. I hope to meet with this group again closer to their final decision day.
KOALA is a little different. The letters stand for Kids Own Australian Literature Award. It is mainly a popularity contest not a literary award.
KOALA is a non-profit organisation run by volunteers (teacher/librarians, public librarians, teachers, publishers and other supporters of children’s literature). Every year, young readers from all over New South Wales judge their very own literature awards. By voting in the KOALA awards they can reward the Australian children's books that have most inspired, amused, terrified, enlightened and engaged them.
KOALA AIMS TO
- Promote and encourage the enjoyment and appreciation of Australian literature for children and young adults.
- Involve young readers in NSW in the process of selecting the most popular books.
- Assist in developing the Readers' critical appreciation skills.
- Give recognition to Australian authors and illustrators.
- Gives students a voice regarding the books they love to read
- Integrates easily into literature promotion programs
- Involves students in the voting process, encouraging them to discuss and debate their views on literature
- Supports other reading programs such as the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge
- Provides students with the opportunity to meet their favourite authors and illustrators at the annual Awards Day
- Offers schools the chance to win original artwork and book prizes.
Kids Own Australian Literature Award short lists for 2024:
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