Children’s Book Week 2025: Book of the Year Awards

Regular reviewer and writer for the CBCA Tasmania Blog; Maureen Mann shares her thoughts on this year’s outcomes for the 2025 Book of the Year Awards.

Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators, as well as publishers involved in all children’s books published in Australia, but especially those who were successful in the Awards, announced Friday 15 August 2025. 

Are you someone, like me, who looks forward to the announcement of the winners and honour books each year? It’s not my favourite time – I like the announcement of the Notables as it gives me a chance to review my year’s reading as well as helping me make my decisions as to which ones I think should be in the Short List, and then which of those might be chosen as winners and honour books. 

But, for many, it is the best time of the year. What were your picks for the Awards? Are you happy with the results, or would you like to have a conversation with the judges?

In this blog, I am going to comment on this year’s successful books. However, I must acknowledge that I am not one of the 15 judges over the 5 categories. I have not read all entries in any category, though I have read most of the books listed in the Notables. 

The judges assess books against 5 main criteria: literary merit, including quality of language and characterisation; cohesiveness of language, style, themes; appeal to implied readership; quality of illustrations and design and production; originality.  For me, the most important is literary merit – is it multi-layered and appropriate to the implied readership? 

Older Readers

Winner: Gary Lonesborough’s I’m Not Really Here. It’s a great indigenous queer coming of age story, with some challenging themes, but resolves well. I couldn’t decide when it was set – some of the social media references didn’t quite fit 2025. It’s very similar to some of his previous titles. 

My winner would have been Birdy by Sharon Kernot which was named an Honour book. This verse novel includes the themes of love and the trauma of loss and assault, family relationships with a positive ending. Into the Mouth of the Wolf, another queer story, was the other Honour book and provided some unexpected twists and turns. 

Younger Readers

Winner: Laughter is the Best Ending by Maryam Master. For me this was the best book of the Short List, with characters relevant to the YR age group. I enjoyed the relationships within, the fact that Zee liked Oscar Wilde often in preference to the real world and that she was prepared to tread her own path. 

I was disappointed in the Honour books. Fluff is a great read and will appeal to many YR readers, but I felt that it was superficial and I don’t think it lacks literary merit. Aggie Flea Steals the Show doesn’t have the depth that I expect of a literary text for the YR group, though it is a story which many readers will enjoy. 

Early Childhood

Winner: The Wobbly Bike. This category is aimed at readers aged 0 to 6. Though I loved this book, I think it is probably more suited to slightly older readers, maybe those who are at least another 1 or 2 years older. It would have been better suited to the Picture Book category for its readership, but possibly would have been lost in that category.

Honour books: One Little Dung Beetle and How to Move a Zoo. Two great stories, with lots of literary merit and beautifully packaged, but I’m not sure are best fitted in the Early Childhood category. I think they ended up in EC so they weren’t ‘lost’. I really enjoyed Spiro, the shadow judges’ pick.

Picture Book

Winner: The Truck Cat is a fantastic story of migration, friendship and the meaning of home. It fits all the assessment criteria so well, for readers of all ages. 

Honour books. Afloat and These Long-Loved Things.  Afloat tells the story of indigenous cultures, using weaving as a cohesive link between different groups. These Long-Loved Things didn’t work for me. It’s about all those memories which we lose as we age, especially for those who develop dementia. 

Eve Pownall

Winner: Always Was, Always Will Be is a beautifully created book, the strongest of the EP Notables list for me, reminding us of many of the First Nation protest movements and actions over the past 200+ years in Australia. 

Honour Books. Making the Shrine is a graphic retelling of building the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne and that for me is also its weakness, that it is specific to Victoria rather than being relevant Australia-wide.  South with the Seabirds celebrates 4 women’s achievements in their successful voyage (breaking accepted social beliefs) to Macquarie Island in the 1950s. 

New Illustrator

Congratulations to Sarah Capon for her illustrations in Grow Big, Little Seed using the medium of paper collage. The story itself is challenging as it is about pregnancy loss followed by success. 

Happy reading for the next year!

Maureen Mann
Retired teacher librarian and avid reader

Editor's Note: Well done to all the creators and judges involved in the process. Find out more about the awards, the judging and Book Week on the CBCA website.

I am sure many readers had some favourites from the shortlist or notables. Why not share a title or too that you think was extra special.

 

Children’s Book Week: Fun, excitement or just one more element of stress for busy parents?

Countdown! Book Week is nearly upon us. Join Felicity for some timely advice to keep this special week focused on favourite books and having fun. No stress allowed!

Each year as Children’s Book Week nears (on Friday August 15 the winners are announced, with celebrations traditionally held in the following week), I fight the urge to become a keyboard warrior. Social media posts are flooded with photos of the carefully curated outfits parents have made for their child. Other posts are filled with despair from busy parents with no time to curate an outfit. When did the outfit and book selection fall so heavily in the parent domain? I think fondly of my own children heading to the dress up box, and drawing together an outfit from the resources available, with far more ingenuity and creativity than I could ever muster. My urge is to type – leave the outfit to your child. Far more important than the costume is the book that inspired it. Let’s chat about that.

What is it about the character in the book that inspires a child to want to dress up? It may be as simple as that the character is beautiful, has beautiful clothes, lives in a palace, sleeps in a four poster bed, rides horses, speaks with animals, has adventures or can do magic. Any of these traits can provide an opportunity for a child to compare their world and experiences with the world and experiences of the fictional character, and to ‘try these on’ for one day.

Books not only allow us to experience other worlds and meet people who are nothing like us, but also create a lasting emotional response to the experience. Glancing at a title of a book on my bookshelf, as I go about my daily activities, I’m immediately transported to memories of the characters, the events, and my response to that title – all in an instant. If I had not read that book, at some time in my past, I would probably just notice that the shelf could do to be dusted. Instead, I can ignore the dust and make a promise to myself that the title will get re-read soon.

So this Children’s Book Week, please take the time to chat with a child about the story that has inspired them to dress up, share with them a memory of a favourite story from your past, and re-read a favourite book together.

And the titles that caught my eye as I walked past my bookshelf this week, and that I have promised myself (and them) a re-read soon? Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian and The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively.

Felicity Sly is a retired teacher-librarian and CBCA committee member.

Editor’s note: Both of Felicity’s treasured books have had many print runs and different covers. The images displayed include both the original and more recent versions. 

Check out the following site for inspiration on how to keep dressing up both simple and fun! https://madisonslibrary.com/2021/08/01/book-week-easy-costume-ideas-from-things-in-your-wardrobe/ 

Engaging Young Readers

This week, Debra Williams, an independent author from Smithton in Tasmania, shares her passion for children’s literature and expressing this through her writing and creative puppetry. Debra’s works are published under the name Debra Clewer.

I moved here with my second husband five years ago. I am on a team of reviewers for new children’s publications through Buzz Words magazine, a member of several online writing groups and one online critique group. In 2023 and 2024, I was shortlisted in the Just Write For Kids Pitch It! competition. I also have several short children’s stories included in anthologies.

 

My writing journey began in country NSW in 2015. Assisting in classrooms, I noticed how many children struggled with their reading and comprehension. My goal became to create stories to engage children’s imaginations with stories that they would like to read. When I was employed at a local school in the country NSW town where we lived, I tried out my stories on the target age group, and had a great response. One teacher allowed me to read a chapter to a Grade 5/6 class, and they all wanted the second chapter as well! In the other primary school where I was doing some volunteer work, I had the same reaction. 

Original book jackets for the Harriet series

I self-published my first Middle-Grade novel, Harriet and the Secret Rings, in 2017. Two more books followed as a series in 2018 & 2019: Harriet and the Secret Librarian (Book 2) and Harriet and the Secret Coins (Book 3).  Recently, I have re-released the first book, now titled Harriet and Will: The Secret Rings, where two 11-year-old friends time-slip to three historical locations whilst working on a school project. The stories are historically based, with added fantasy elements. The third book in the original series, based on the Australian gold rush, is now being rewritten as the second book in the series, hopefully to be rereleased later this year.

Harriet and Will - book design and puppet character

Three years ago, via the means of Assisted Independent Publishing, I released a chapter book for 8-11-year-old readers. Ah-Fur, Super Sleuth: The Case of the Missing Moggies, features an Australian Persian cat detective who is on the trail of a criminal rat called Ratho. His chase takes him and his driver cousin, Show-Fur, to London, where Ratho has kidnapped the prime minister’s two best ratters and mousers. His evil plan is to rid the city of all cats. The story has the feel of a James Bond/Inspector Gadget type of adventure and is a lot of fun, with themes of teamwork and good triumphing over evil.

 

Way back in 1991, I wanted a way to make stories come alive in the classroom and at church. Having been involved in puppetry since I was 10, I decided to create my own characters to present various stories. They have been a wonderful boost, both to me and others. In 1999, my late husband, John Clewer, and I started our first website, making puppets to order. I bring other authors’ book characters to life, and am currently working on a 2-character order for a picture book recently released in the U.S, where one of the characters is a talking delivery carton! I have made all sorts of orders, from character collections as hand puppets for schools, to large individual orders…and some have been quite a challenge! I also run puppet-making workshops for children (and adults, if they are interested).  It allows great creativity for the kids and encourages them to participate in their own storytelling. 

                                    

My goal is to engage children’s and adults’ imaginations and encourage them with their writing, reading ability and creativity. I can be found at: 

W:  https://www.clewerbooknook.com

W:  https://www.clewerpuppets.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/DClewerauthor

FB: https://www.facebook.com/clewer.puppets

Editor's note: Aren't the puppets gorgeous!!!