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.
I thought the Eve Pownall category had outstanding entries this year and it would have been very hard to narrow the field. Always Was, Always Will Be is brilliant. Two (of several) from the notables that i thought were particularly good for the creative approach were both by Tasmanians - Before the Mountain by Fiona Levings and Extreme Animal Facts by Jennifer Cossins.
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