Australia’s best children’s picture book poll - vote now The Guardian Australia Part Three

Read about this here The Guardian Australia

This is my THIRD post about this, in my view, crazy project by The Guardian Australia. I talked about this on 28th November 2025 (some won't like my suggestions, but I didn't submit any as I totally forgot to do this) and I talked about it all again on 16th December 2025.

Yesterday I watched a video by one commentator filled with passion about the short comings of the book choices and this poll BUT once again I think everyone is missing a couple of crucial details. The post on Instagram has had 77 comments - this is a drop in the ocean of course in terms of people who might be interested enough to vote in this poll but many of the comments either amazed or enraged me. Who is this Instagrammer - her name is Shannon Wong-Nizic and she has 41.2K followers! 

Firstly, please go back and read the CRITERIA - again this is just my view - but the criteria are crazy and so many of the books suggested by readers of The Guardian Australia do not meet these stated 'rules'. One of the eliminated titles (as of today) has a famous UK illustrator - Helen Oxenbury.

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.

Secondly - YES I am very happy to so any discussion about children's books and especially picture books but the notion of a winner fills me with despair and dread - in fact I think I am fairly sure I can predict the 'winner' quite easily.

Thirdly - barracking from the side lines. I guess this is okay - authors and illustrators begging people who follow them to vote for their book but only if the book does fit in with the criteria - especially the criteria able to be read in a few minutes to a child who does not yet read independently (which I have set as a child aged up to 6).

Fourthly - there were rules that should have been added but were left out - Should the book be in print? Should there be a date range so that older 'classics' that others are claiming are already famous (meaning those creators do not need book sales) might be eliminated or ineligible.

Fifth - should we talk about the sponsor of this 'competition'?  It is a bookshop and it is a bookshop I really like but is this okay? Also, I think it is possible to vote more than once each day - the ethics of this worry me too. 

My sixth point is WHY is this online newspaper doing this? I might be wrong but I am guessing this same poll idea was probably run in the UK and perhaps USA. I need a lot more transparency - who suggested the original books on the list? Did this 'paper' approach anyone with any level of authority about this important topic? Why haven't they reiterated their criteria? - Yes I am back on that hobby horse again.

Finally what will happen when this is over? I surmise nothing will happen. In a week or two it will all be forgotten or maybe an opportunistic publisher will make a bright book sticker that declares their book was the lucky winner. Will they ever run this again? Probably not because why bother? The book list of titles to vote for probably won't change very much and it will not surprise me if the same book wins again.

Here are some points made by Shannon on her Instagram video and my comments - under headings of positive and negative - but I still think she has missed a key issue - yes I am going to say it for the third time in this post - go back to the criteria.

GOOD

• The BEST thing about a poll like this, is that it gets us talking about books and reading.

BAD

• An inherent flaw in a list like this, is that obviously most of us haven’t read every book on the list.

(There were only two I hadn't read of the fifty)

• It’s absolutely fine to vote for a book published in 1983. But in my heart of hearts, I hope that you’ve also read a whole heap of new children’s releases and been regularly visiting bookshops and libraries and reading a diverse range of picture books to young readers since then.

(I agree but this is a fault of the silly way this has been set up not a fault of the audience)

• Also, I LOVE Pamela Allen books as much as the next Kindy teacher, but 3 books on the list feels like overkill. Also, isn’t she technically a Kiwi? Are we just claiming her as our own now? How very Australian of us.

(I agree about this point and I raised the issue of multiple titles by one author in my first blog post - also yes Pamela Allen in my view is from New Zealand)

• Feel the nostalgia but think about the modern Aussie kid.

(The nostalgia has arisen because there were no rules about this and also who suggested these titles - parents, grandparents etc).

Here are a few of the comments made to Shannon that resonated with me:

• I'm not sure the selection process for the starting list but I wish the list was not so narrow to begin with.
• Great to be talking books, but there are so many brilliant books and creators not getting the fanfare they deserve.
• Wow just checked out the list and there are far too many classics. I think we know the demographic of The Guardian's readers.

Here are the first twenty books that have been eliminated - each day five books with the lowest votes is removed from the voting list.

Am I upset about any of these? 

No - The Rabbits by John Marsden and Fox by Margaret Wild are both books for readers aged 10+ 

I love Whistle up the Chimney but it is way too old and of little appeal to modern children.

Tomorrow I expect John Brown, Rose and the Midnight cat will be cut - and that is okay with me - I adore this book but it is not designed for very young readers.

Many, though not all, of the eliminated books you can see in the image above were never intended for  very young children.

My predictions for the 'winner' (but note I strongly dislike this idea of a winner and of losers) are Magic Beach (even though it really doesn't have an actual narrative but is a set of linked scenes) or Where is the Green Sheep which is more of a concept book for toddlers. The other main condender based on Monday with three days to go is Animalia - this is absolutely NOT a book that you can read in five minutes and really the visual clues will be much better appreciated by children older than age 6. I hope I am wrong!

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

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):