ABC Radio National top 100 Australian Books

ABC Radio National: Each year we focus on a different theme. In 2026, we're celebrating Australian writing in all its many forms. ... Our definition of Australian is deliberately broad. We want to celebrate books that reflect Australia and Australian life in all its richness. ... There are no genre restrictions.

As you would expect I am going to list the Children's Books that 'made' this list.  I predicted NONE of my choices would be listed but in fact ONE of mine is there! Nineteen children's books are in the top 100 so that is something to celebrate even though a few of were written many decades ago. And I have listed a few others that were later published as young reader or abridged editions. 

IBBY Australia Honour Book 2010; Shaun Tan IBBY Australia Hans Christian Andersen nominee; Shaun Tan winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) 2011. 

The Arrival is a title on the IBBY International Silent Books list (2013). 

Read this article by Shaun Tan about The Arrival

100. Round the Twist by Paul Jennings

99. The 13-Storey Tree house by Andy Griffiths

98. The Arrival by Shaun Tan*

91. Where the Forest meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker*

83. Wombat Stew by Marcia K Vaughan illustrated by Pamela Lofts

70. Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French* illustrated by Bruce Whatley*

62. Are we there yet? by Alison Lester*

55. The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay (1918)

48. Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox* illustrated by Judy Horacek

47. Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1980)

42. The Complete adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs (1918)

37. I can jump puddles by Alan Marshall (1955)

32. Animalia by Graeme Base

25. Seven Little Australian by Ethel Turner (1893)

19. Magic Beach by Alison Lester

17. Storm Boy by Colin Thiele (the best edition is the one illustrated by Robert Ingpen 1974)

13. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1992)

11. Possum Magic by Mem Fox illustrated by Julie Vivas

6. Tomorrow when the War Began by John Marsden

* the labels on this post will take you to more books by these authors and illustrators.

Illustration by Robert Ingpen (IBBY Australia HCAA Nominee 1986)

Source: The Guardian

Other titles:

I also need to mention 59. The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku because there is a picture book edition and 60. The Man from Snowy River by AB Banjo Paterson which you can read in several picture books. There are abridged editions written for young readers of 21. My Place by Sally Morgan; 24. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, 12. Dark Emu was published for young readers as Young Dark Emu and 50. Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin. I guess I should also have added 81. We of the Never Never by Jeanie Gunn published in 1907.

Illustrated by Freya Blackwood*

Cookbooks on the list:

22. The Birthday Cake Book (Australian Women's Weekly)

96. Recipe Tin Eats Dinner

56. The Cooks Companion Stephanie Alexander

I mentioned this book in my post about Countdown to Yesterday by Shirley Marr

You will also want to watch the Bluey Episode "Duck Cake" season 2 episode 43. 

Round the Twist was a television series based on several previous short stories found in collections by Paul Jennings such as Unreal. My own favourite Paul Jenning stories are One Shot Toothpaste and Smart Ice cream.

Read more here

If you are curious here are my votes:

Tiger Daugher; Fox; Picasso and the Greatest Show on earth; Then and Now; The Foal in the wire; Scar Town; The way of Dog; and Across the Risen Sea. My tenth book is My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder.

One Tree by Christopher Cheng illustrated by Bruce Whatley

"When he was a young farmer, Grandfather woke to birds singing in his trees. 

He tended his fields and talked to his plants to help them grow."

But that was long ago. Now Grandfather lives in a city apartment. It is busy and noisy and the air does not smell too good.  Grandfather is sad and quiet. 

One day his grandson sees a tiny plant growing in a crack on the footpath. He gently pulls it from the ground and takes it home because he is sure his grandfather will know how to care for this tiny fragile new life. At first Grandfather seems disinterested but then he begins to talk to the little tree. 

"Then on my birthday, Grandfather gives me another potted tree. 'Two trees are always better than one'."

Over the coming weeks they add more trees and soon their balcony is filled with trees and blossoms. And then a bird arrives. His silent Grandfather begins to talk again - telling stories of his mountains and rivers and trees and fishing. Other people notice the green on their high-up balcony and they add their own trees and over time the grey, austere building is transformed. 

Publisher blurb: One tall tree on the mountain once marked Grandfather’s farm. Now there is a busy city and Grandfather lives with us in our apartment. Once he told stories but now he stays silent. Until one day, in the city market, I find something precious . . . something that brings Grandfather’s memories alive again.

One Tree reads like a beloved fable; a story that spans generations and could easily slip into despondency yet buoys hope in the most translucent way as Cheng compares the past with the present. Green mountainsides are obscured by city grim and skyscrapers. Individualism is sucked away in a vortex of colourless anonymity and sameness, yet one tiny action motions great change allowing transformation. This story blends environmental concerns with social awareness and family relationships all under a deliciously Asian cultural umbrella. And the thing that pulls it all together? Whatley’s exquisite illustrations. Dim's Write Stuff

The topic of urban renewal and growing a green city could be a fabulous mini unit in your school library. There are so many books on this topic. Here are a few companion books:

The Secret Sky Garden

The Tin Forest

The Extraordinary Gardener

The Girl who Planted Trees

Oscar's Tower of Flowers

The Curious Garden

Rose's Garden

The Tree at Number 43

Bruce Whatley is our IBBY Australia 2026 Hans Christian Andersen award nominee. I read One Tree many years ago (it was published in 2019) and I have often suggested it as a companion book but for some reason I had not penned a proper blog post about this book.

One Tree is one of the five books illustrated by Bruce Whately that we have sent to the ten HCAA jurors.

The Reading Time reviewer said:

This book is so simply but beautifully written, and the illustrations so vibrant and effective, that once I read it, I had to turn back and read it again immediately. The story of the grandfather slowly being drawn into helping his grandson with the tree was so touching. I especially appreciated when the grandfather starts talking quietly to the tree. Bruce Whatley’s illustrations are achieved digitally, but give the appearance of linocuts. This technique, in its blend of old and new technology complements the themes of the book: the old and the new can find ways to coexist.

Plague by Jackie French illustrated by Bruce Whatley

"Grass and wheat-lands spread to the horizon, and so did we, with too few ibis to control us. We could rage across the land. We ate the grass, the leaves, the wheat ... "

My first teaching appointment was to a farming community and over the years I lived there, we had a mouse plague and a grasshopper or locust plague. To counteract the impact of insects on crops the farmers used aerial spraying. One of the teachers in my school had a dreadful, almost life threatening, reaction to these insecticides. She had to keep her home closed and limit her time outside and eventually she and her family had to leave the district.

In Plague, Jackie French begins with the before times when the original people of our land lived in harmony with the season, land and animals. The locust narrator explains:

"We were never too many. The world was balanced then."

BUT swamps were drained, land was cleared for farming and things went out of balance. Specifically the habitat for ibis was lost. Jackie French explains that a single ibis can eat 700 locusts in a day. With no ibis (they moved to our cities - see books below) and delicious crops on the new farms, the locusts thrived. 

The farmers fought back - using poison sprays but this also killed our bush birds who ate the locusts.

"Long ago, people knew how Country must be cherished."

A wonderful book to talk about the topic of nature in balance with older children is this one:

Sparrow Girl

Here are some teachers notes for Plague. Plague is the sixth book in this splendid series by Jackie French - Flood, Fire, Cyclone, Drought, Pandemic and Earthquake. And each of these books have simply perfect illustrations by Bruce Whatley. I highly recommend this series as an essential addition to every school library. 

Here are my comments about Earthquake:

This title has a debossed title and shaken letters in shades of brown like the land after an earthquake. This is a perfect way to introduce the topic of this book. Jackie French is a master storyteller. Every word in this text is chosen with great care. Jackie French uses precise and effective words and phrases so readers can feel, hear, and even smell the effects of an earthquake. It is a richly descriptive narrative. Examples of this are phrases like matchstick debris; ripped like paper; the shop floor quivered like the sea. The text describes the destruction caused by an earthquake but this is balanced when we read that, earthquakes have help shape the land. The notes are the back are factual and personal. This is an engaging text that most certainly will assist the reader to understand more about our world. The end papers show the power of a quake to bring down huge stone blocks. The sense of place is very strong especially with the reference to Meckering in Western Australia (1968) and Newcastle (1989).