CBCA Short lists 2026 announced today - my predictions

If you are reading this before 12 noon on 31st March, then you might like to see if my predictions match yours and IF you are reading this after 12 noon on 31st March you might be saying ha ha I was right or ha ha you were so wrong!

Picture Book of the Year - my top six. Of the twenty-five notables I was able to read 17. I read a good report about Jo and the No but I wasn't able to find this book over the last month. 

Once I was a giant

Dawn

One Day

Bob and Dob

Gone

The Thing about Christmas

Younger Readers Book of the Year - my top six (I have ten on my list). Of the twenty-five notables I was able to read or skim through 15. 

Song of a Thousand Seas

Run

The Keeper of the Octopus

The Silken Thread

Promises and other lies

Into the Bewilderness

My other three choices are The Year we Escaped; How to sail to Somewhere; and The Making of Martha Mayfield. I am currently reading The Surface Trials and it might be another possible title on the short list. The other title from the Younger Readers that I wanted to read but didn't find was The Paperbark Tree Committee. 

CBCA Predicting the 2026 Younger Readers Notable titles

Trapped

Song of a Thousand Seas

Spud and Snowball

The CBCA 2026 Notables in five Book of the Year categories will be announced at various events around Australia next week on Tuesday 24th February. I love attending these events - it is so exciting to discover books I have not yet read and also to see many books that I loved reading during 2025. 

I was honestly very disappointed, though, with the CBCA Younger Readers choices and winners in 2024 and 2025. I do hope some of the titles in this post have been entered and that they 'make the cut'.  I have put my top three above. I used three of our Australian Standing order services as a way to remind myself or hunt out Younger Readers (ages 7-12). Lost in a Book may not be eligible because it is a sequel, but I think it can stand alone and I loved it even more than the first installment. 

I gave four stars to Oceanforged; Danger Road; The Keeper of the Octopus; Little Bones; Promises and other Lies; The Silken Thread; How to Sail to Somewhere; and Willow Bright's Secret Plot. 

CBCA Predicting the 2026 Notables - Picture Books

Dawn

Once I was a Giant

One Day

Next week the CBCA will announce the 2026 Book of the Year Notables. There will be 25 books in each of five categories. (Note there is no notable list for New Illustrator).

I looked through three of our Australian Standing Order services and some of my past blog posts and compiled this list of picture books published in 2025 which may have been submitted to the CBCA judges for the 2026 award. The 40+ books I have put here are from both possible categories - Picture Book of the Year and Early Childhood Picture Book of the Year.

I put my top three Picture Book choices at the top of this post.

CBCA 2025 Winner predictions

Today at noon the winners and honour books for 2025 for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Book of the Year will be announced. I was privileged to be a judge 2021-23 so I do appreciate this is a complex process but also an exciting one.

There were 730 entries this year and 15 judges (six categories). The notables were announced in February with 122 books, representing 31 publishers, 114 writers and 79 illustrators. And then in March we heard the titles of the six short listed books in each category.

This category is beyond the scope of my blog but I did talk about Birdy

I'm predicting Laughter is the Best Ending to win

and only Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger as an honour title

This category disappointed me this year and I think there should only be one honour title

I'm predicting One little Dung Beetle to win

and The Wobbly Bike and How to Move a Zoo as Honour titles

(But I do also love Spiro)

You need to consider this category is for readers aged 0-6

I'm predicting Afloat to win

and A leaf called Greaf and The Garden of Broken Things as Honour titles

This was a very strong field with an excellent set of titles

I cannot predict this category but I did enjoy South with the Seabirds by Jess McGeachin

I also cannot predict this category but I have talked about 

Digger digs down and I do like When I was a little Girl and The Land Recalls You.

The CBCA 2020 Notables are coming part three Eve Pownall Award

Image source Chinese International School Manilla

I did not plan to talk about the Eve Pownall award for Non Fiction but earlier today some posted a question on a teacher-librarian forum about children and promoting non fiction in a school library. In one week the notable titles will be announced.  Looking at the list of books (over 65 titles) submitted by the publishers for this award I have to say Non Fiction is more than just alive and well it's thriving. This award began in 1988 and became part of the CBCA awards in 1993. If you take a look at previous winners you are sure to see some wonderful titles presented in a variety of formats.

I especially like these from the past:

• Sorry Day 2019
• Do not lick this book 2018
• A to Z of convicts 2015
• Jeremy 2014
• Tom the outback mailman 2013
• The return of the word spy 2011
• The Rabbits 1999
• V is for Vanishing 1994
• My Place by Nadia Wheatley 1988

I remember talking once with a past Eve Pownall Judge and she explained this is one of the most complex sections to judge because there are so many different formats, intended audiences and of course expectations. If a book is Non Fiction is it essential to have an index, contents, glossary? What about a list of sources and ideas for further reading?

Here is the official criteria:

"Entries in this category should be books with the prime purpose of documenting factual material. Consideration should be given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and variation of style. This includes works of non-fiction, autobiographies and biographies. This does not include activity books, text books or procedural texts. The age range for this category is 0 to 18 years."

Looking at the list of books that were submitted there are many I have read but I regret I have not talked about them here. I can see I need to include more non fiction titles in this blog.  Here are the books I like:

The day we built the bridge by Samantha Tidy illustrated by Fiona Burrows
A cat called Trim by Corinne Fenton illustrated by Craig Smith

Argh! There's a skeleton inside you by Idan Ben-Barak illustrated by Julian Frost
Grandma's treasured shoes by Coral Vass illustrated by Christina Huynh
Lunch at 10 Pomegranate street by Felicita Sala
The massive book of maps by Lorna Hendry
Culture by Charles Hope

Searching for Cicadas by Lesley Gibbes illustrated by Judy Watson
The Ultimate Animal Counting book by Jennifer Cossins
The book of Stone by Mark Greenwood illustrated by Coral Tulloch
Windcatcher by Diane Jackson Hill illustrated by Craig Smith
Fauna by Tania McCartney
The illustrated Encyclopedia of Ugly Animals by Sami Bayly
Australian Backyard Earth Scientist by Peter Macinnis

Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
Cooee Mittigar: A story on Darug Songlines by Jasmine Seymour illustrated by Leanne Mulgo
Wilam: A Birrarung story by Aunty Joy, Lisa Kennedy and Andrew Kelly

In 1952 The Australia Book by Eve Pownall won the CBC Children's Book of the Year award.

I was interested to see two books submitted for the Eve Pownall which I think might better suit an adult audience. I have talked about both of these in previous posts.

The 2020 CBCA Notables are coming part 2

On Tuesday 25th February the CBCA will announce the Notable titles for 2020.  Very dedicated volunteer judges from around Australia have spent many hours over the last year reading books from one of the book award categories. Earlier I talked about books from the Picture Book of the Year category. Over 160 books were submitted in this section.  Today I will focus on Book of the Year Younger Readers. Over 120 books were submitted in this section.

Here are some I hope, wish, predict, expect to see on the Notable list:

Vincent and the grandest hotel on earth by Lisa Nicol
Pie in the Sky by Remi Lai
Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery by Renee Tremel
A different land by Paul Jennings
The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble
Catch a falling star by Meg McKinlay
A great escape by Felice Arena
This is Home: essential Australian poems for Children collected by Jackie French illustrated by Tania McCartney
Ask Hercules Quick by Ursula Dubosarsky illustrated by Andrew Joyner
The secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt illustrated by Katherine Quinn
Detention by Tristan Bancks
The Little Wave by Pip Harry
Sick Bay by Nova Weetman

I am excited to see on the lists and among my predictions a poetry book, graphic novels and illustrated texts. Here is an explanation of the category Younger Readers from the CBCA:

Entries in this category should be books for children aged between 7 and 12 years (primary school level). Books in this category may be fiction, drama, illustrated text, poetry or graphic novels.

The 2020 CBCA Notables are coming

Next week the CBCA will announce their notable titles for 2020 and from this the short list will be released about one month later and then in August we will know the titles which have won from the five sections of this important competition. In this post I will focus on Picture Book of the Year. The other categories are Early Childhood Picture Book; Book of the Year for Younger Readers; Book of the Year for Older Readers; and the Eve Pownall Award for Non Fiction.

Members of the CBCA have access to the full list of titles submitted for the awards this year. I have combed through these and found 15 books I think or predict should or could or perhaps even must make the notables list. A few from the list of submitted titles appear in more than one list so I will share these later. You can think of the notables as a long list.

Fly by Jess McGeachin
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
Sarah's two Nativities by Janine Fraser illustrated by Helene Magisson
Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner illustrated by Jonathan Bentley
Mallee Sky by Jodi Toering illustrated by Tannya Harricks
Three by Stephen Michael King
Dumazi and the big yellow Lion by Valanga Khoza illustrated by Matt Ottley
Baby Business by Jasmine Seymour

Little Bird's Day by Sally Morgan illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja Maibirr
Antarctica by Moira Court
Winter of the White Bear by Martin Ed Chatterton
Through the smoke by Phil Cummings illustrated by Andrew McLean
Leonard doesn't dance by Frances Watts illustrated by Judy Watson
Wilam: A Birrarung Story by Auntie Joy Murphy, Lisa Murphy and Andrew Kelly
Windcatcher by Diane Jackson Hill illustrated by Craig Smith

Book Week 22nd- 28th August

Curious Creatures, Wild Minds