Best Australian Picture book part two

Sorry to sound negative but as I predicted there are books on this list that do not meet the criteria set by The Guardian Australia. There are fifty books on the list (you can see 48 of them here) - I do wonder how many people submitted titles and were they able to submit more than one? There are only two books** on this list that I have never seen. I also wonder if people were able to vote more than once? Who decided if the book was for aged 0-6 and could be read 'in a few minutes'? Why are there no books by Margaret Wild on this list except Fox which is for ages 10+? I am also concerned about the idea of a WINNER! Voting starts after 27th January, 2026.

Here are the criteria:

• Primarily intended to be read aloud to children who don’t yet read independently.
• Able to be read in a few minutes – 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.

Before reading any further please take a look at my previous post 

which is filled with questions and concerns.

In my previous post I listed the books that I thought should be included by The Guardian Australia - I am especially sad that Duck, Apple, Egg by Glenda Millard; Puffling by Margaret Wild; Little Humpty by Margaret Wild; Lucy Goosey by Margaret Wild; Rudie Nudie by Emma Quay; Sebastian Lives in a Hat by Thelma Catterwell; I'm a Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian illustrated by Ann James; and Noni the Pony by Alison Lester.

The next step is to vote for your favourite from this list.

• 11 Words for Love by Randa Abdel-Fattah and Maxine Beneba Clarke
• All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys
• Animalia by Graeme Base
• Another Book About Bears by Laura and Philip Bunting
• Are We There Yet? by Alison Lester
• Be Careful, Xiao Xin! by Alice Pung and Sher Rill Ng
• Chip by Kylie Howarth
• Come Over to My House by Eliza Hull, Sally Rippin and Daniel Gray-Barnett
• Day Break by Amy McQuire and Matt Chun
• Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
• Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles and Rod Clement
• Emergency! Emergency! Vehicles to the Rescue by Rhiân Williams and Tom Jellett
• Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks
• Grace’s Mystery Seed by Juliet M Sampson and Karen Erasmus**
• Greetings from Sandy Beach by Bob Graham
• Grug by Ted Prior
• Imagine by Alison Lester
• Jetty Jumping by Andrea Rowe and Hannah Sommerville
• John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat by Jenny Wagner and Ron Brooks
• Kissed by the Moon by Alison Lester
• Magic Beach by Alison Lester
• Mopoke by Philip Bunting
• Mr Chicken Goes to Paris by Leigh Hobbs
• Mr McGee by Pamela Allen
• My Country by Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Sally Morgan
• My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart
• Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey
• Possum Magic by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas
• Room on Our Rock by Kate and Jol Temple and Terri Rose Baynton
• Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten by Bob Graham
• Sharon Keep your Hair on by Gillian Rubinstein and David Mackintosh
• Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury (UK Illustrator)
• The Bunyip of Berkeley’s Creek by Jenny Wagner and Ron Brooks
• The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base
• The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
• The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van Thanh Rudd
• The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan
• The Rainbow Serpent by Dick Roughsey
• The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland
• There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake by Hazel Edwards and Deborah Niland
• This Small Blue Dot by Zeno Sworder
• Under the Love Umbrella by Davina Bell and Allison Colpoys
• Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
• Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker
• Whistle Up the Chimney by Nan Hunt and Craig Smith
• White Sunday by Litea Fuata and Myo Yim**
• Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen
• Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas
• Window by Jeannie Baker
• Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan and Pamela Lofts

Books for older readers (these do not meet the criteria above)

Yes, they are splendid books but none of these should be included 

in this project by The Guardian Australia

Read my review here. Take special note of the labels I assigned my post.

Here is my blog post about this classic Australia picture book.

This is a book for readers aged 8+

Here is an essay by Shaun Tan where he talks about the way picture books work

Young readers will miss so much if you rush and read either of these in 'just a few minutes'

Also many of the visual concepts are very sophisticated.

Read my blog post.

This story is an allegory about identity and belonging and it is rich text to explore visual literacy

This is about the colonisation of Australia - it is not a book about cute rabbits.

Take a look at the NCACL details in their Picture Books for Older Readers database.

Here is my blog post