Australia Top Picture Books – What did you think?

Were you an active voter in the recent Guardian poll to identify Australia’s top picture books? Maureen Mann shares some thoughts on this first ever, and significant, poll and the outcomes. Although we celebrate The Guardian’s efforts to put Australian children's authors and illustrators under the spotlight Maureen does provide some food for thought in regard to the outcomes. Hopefully such feedback may inform future polls.

The recent Guardian poll on Australia’s top picture book – congratulations to Alison Lester for winning with the wonderful Magic Beach – raises the criticism that it didn’t contain enough recent titles. The very nature of how the list was compiled gives us one answer: titles were nominated by readers. The oldest book was published in 1973 and the most recent in 2022. 

The eligibility criteria was that the book can be read aloud to someone who is not yet an independent reader; can be read in a few minutes; be created by an Australian and published in Australia. According to the results, about 15000 votes were cast each day. I couldn’t find anything about the age range of voters. Would it have changed things if a younger demographic had been actively involved? But this group tends not to be Guardian readers, though this is, perhaps, a subjective comment. Book nominations were also restricted to those 18 years of over, though could be made on behalf of a child.

So – which titles would you include? Would it change for you if the publication date was restricted to titles from the last 10, or 20 years. Doing so might restrict those who vote to those who have continued to read Australian picture books after their children grew too old for them. 

Using the above criteria, here are my top titles (not in priority order) from the last 10 years.

• Bev and Kev by Katrina Germein and Mandy Foot
• Farmhouse by Sophia Blackall
• Timeless by Kelly Canby
• Grace and Mr Milligan by Caz Goodwin and Pip Kruger
• The Wobbly Bike by Darren McCallum and Craig Smith
• The Truck Cat by Danny Snell and Deborah Frankel
• Bernie Thinks in Boxes by Jess Horn and Zoe Bennett

What have I missed? What would be on your list?

P.S. Don’t forget to look out for the CBCA 2026 Night of the Notables February 24.

Maureen Mann

Retired teacher librarian and avid reader.

 

Editor’s note: The poll was well promoted via CBCA Tasmania’s social media and I was active in the original nominations and as part of the voting process. My favourite, and recent publication, Jetty Jumping, hung in for a while, but was eliminated in the latter stages. When the top 50 books were announced I did wonder if participants fully grasped the criteria. I really like Maureen’s list and have expanded below with some other favourites of mine from the last 10 years, keeping in mind the intended young audience to read aloud too.

Stories That May Help with Transition to School

Starting school, whether in the early years or the beginning of high school, can be a challenging time. Felicity Sly kicks off the blog for 2026  with some great suggestions for books that tackle starting school. 

This post it probably a tad late for helping Kinder and Prep children approach their first day at school, but a follow up story to normalise how they may be feeling about all the new experiences may help to ease their worries.

Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill (Penguin) is the confident, no worries approach. With nearly every lift-the-flap reveal, Spot is having a great experience…only singing seems to cause anxiety (perhaps this isn’t Spot’s experience, but Eric’s?).

In contrast The Pigeon HAS to go to School by Mo Willems (Penguin Random House) has Pigeon catastrophising every possible scenario…until they finally realises that school is there to help them learn all the things that they are worried about.

Maddie’s First Day by Penny Matthews & Liz Anelli (Walker Books) and First Day by Andrew Daddo & Jonathan Bentley (Harper Collins) take the reader through all the steps of getting ready on that first school day.  Maddie’s journey takes us through the school day, but Daddo’s child’s story skips what happens during the day and then focuses on it being mum who finds the day to be a challenge (one that will get easier tomorrow).

Ozzie Goes to School by Jocelyn Crabb & Danny Snell (Harper Collins) takes a completely different perspective. Ozzie has been living a non-typical life in the Northern Territory. His days are spent helping his dad. Ozzie struggles to cope with the new experiences at school and so runs away each day. But each morning he returns to school and with the help of understanding teachers and classmates by Friday, he is running to school.

Starting Year 7 can be as confronting for some students as starting Kinder/Prep.

Are You There Buddha by Pip Harry (Hachette Australia) a CBCA Book of the Year Younger Reader’s in 2020 (written in verse) has Bee attending a new school, with a new family dynamic and many personal and environment challenges to navigate. How Bee handles these challenges, through conversations with Buddha and her family provide the story’s trajectory. 

Stand Up Ferran Burke by Steve Camden (Pan Macmillan Australia) is also in verse. This novel is set over 5 years as Ferran commences high school and navigates this experience, no longer in his older sibling’s shadow. The book is set in Canada, but Canadians are honorary Australians (aren’t they?).

Tremendous Things by Susin Nielsen (Penguin Random House) commences in Grade 9 but references a humiliating Grade 7 event that still haunts Wilbur. Wilbur’s friends help him to rise above his worst moment and embrace new challenges. (This is another novel set in Canada).

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (Bloomsbury) tells the tale of many Grade 7s experiencing major change, as they navigate the next stage of their education – amongst other challenges of just staying alive! The characters experience all the difficulties of school, peers, teachers and change.

You Must be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied (Penguin) explores an even greater challenge in navigating the high school experience. Layla, a Sudanese-Australian Muslim and scholarship student in a prestigious high school, needs to prove that she is academically worthy, whilst navigating all the normal challenges of high school student…and more.

NCACL (National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature) has a Bibliography on this topic, listed in 3 sections: Pre-school and Ages 5-8; Primary/Upper Primary; and Secondary. Download the PDF here.

Felicity Sly is a CBCA Tasmania 2026 Committee Member, and an avid (but slow) reader.