Happy 80th Birthday CBCA Book of the Year

On Saturday 31^st October, a capacity crowd of 120 excited children along with their responsible adults, CBCA members and a number of local authors and illustrators gathered at C3 Conference Centre in Hobart to celebrate this wonderful milestone in the Book of the Year Awards.

President Steve Martin opened proceedings before passing the MC role over to Jennie Bales. Jennie described the newly created webpage, Notably Tasmanian,  which has been developed to showcase Tasmanian authors and illustrators whose works have been recognised in the Book of the Year awards: as a notable or short list title, and highlighting those who have been short-listed or received Honour book or Winner in the relevant category. 

Jennie introduced Jedda Robaard who illustrated Where the River Runs Free (written by Vikki Conley) about children out on a walk searching for a platypus in the river (the inspiration for this Platypus themed event and its location on the banks for the Hobart Rivulet). Jedda read this lovely book to an eager young audience and then showed them how to draw a platypus — simple lines and shapes — with varying successes but delighting all participants. Some of the attending adults - including illustrators - had fun following along.

TasWater sponsored the afternoon – thank you so much. Their book, Saving the Creek: The Water Guardians, was freely available. Kate Beard, from TasWater introduced the Water Guardians Water Literacy Program and went on to both entertain, and educate, the crowd.  With the help of 13 young volunteers Kate kept her audience enthralled telling the story of a creek developing into a river and having to cope with the many pollutants which make their way into waterways. Each young volunteer added the contents of a small container into a jug to show, by the end, just how dirty our water can become. Along the way, Kate suggested solutions and improvements to reduce the pollution. It was a great session. Thanks Kate. 

As with all good birthday parties, a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday was followed by guests collecting their cake, and eating it! A very big thanks to Felicity for the lovely cupcakes complete with a chocolate platypus on top – thoroughly moreish, and a popular feature that was greatly admired, and then devoured. 

CBCA Tas also thanks Hobart Bookshop for providing the opportunity for some retail therapy with a range of representative titles available for purchase, and to local business, Red Parka, for kindly donating the thank you gifts for our presenters – beautiful platypus pins to remind them of the event. It was also great to see the creators who attended as they informally mingled and chatted to the audience – a real treat for all.

Which titles do you remember from past Book of the Year Awards? Check out the Notably Tasmanian webpage and downloadable PDF to see if there was a Tasmanian involved in recent years.

Maureen Mann
Retired teacher librarian and avid reader

The 2026 Southern Readers Cup

CBCA Tasmania was pleased to conduct the 2026 Southern Readers Cup and appreciated the hard work of the staff at host school Dodges Ferry and the teachers and staff of the other participating schools, some of whom travelled quite long distances to attend.  It was a delight to have some smaller country schools join in and make the most of this opportunity to come together to test their reading knowledge and creative interpretations of six wonderful books.

 

It was a pleasure to be the official Master of Ceremonies at this year’s 2026 Southern Readers’ Cup, superbly hosted by Dodges Ferry staff. The four visiting schools were participating for the first time so there was a touch of the unknown, a hint of trepidation and an overall air of excitement as students from Sorell School, Austins Ferry Primary School, Dunalley Primary School and as far away as Triabunna District School, joined the Dodges Ferry team to decide this year’s winner.

 

The competition was in two parts – with the Quiz in the morning. With most teams new to this experience, the demand for recall across the six books was certainly a challenge. It was terrific to see group members sharing ideas and deciding on the best answer. The two judges, Maureen Mann and Narelle Williams, commented on how well they did attempting some tricky questions and how carefully responses were recorded.

 

Readers Cup teams from Austins Ferry, Triabunna and Dunalley

After a break for lunch and a stretch in the fresh air, the teams returned, prepared for the Creative Performance segment. Simple, clever and home-made props were included, interesting and informative PowerPoint presentations were displayed, including an entertaining movie showing time in its many forms, narrations, a rap, acting performances and a detailed and intricate diorama were on show. Some teams included more than one medium to share their understandings of one or more of the books and the audience was entertained throughout. Judges were impressed at how some teams had woven themes from different books into their presentations and others had drilled down to explore key messages in their chosen title.

 

Dodges Ferry Primary School won the Quiz component making the most of a home base advantage as the only team to have participated in the Readers Cup before - they knew what to expect! They had obviously read the books very carefully and with consideration of possible questions. Team members each received Quiz Master medals in recognition of the depth of their knowledge across the six books.

The Sorell School team members were awarded with the Creative Performance Medals for their clever play that explored various themes with Tim Tie Your Shoelaces a unifying thread that brought in key messages from other books. The audience waited with baited breath for ‘Tim’ to trip on those extraordinarily long shoe-laces!

Sorell School and Dodges Ferry with their medals.

Combining both the Quiz and the Creative Performance scores resulted in Dodges Ferry also winning the overall competition and retaining the cup for the second year.

 

Dodges Ferry Primary School with the Readers Cup

What a wonderful day! As the MC, I felt that all teams were winners. The students were engaged, supportive and had clearly gone the extra mile to do their very best work on the day. Teachers and the CBCA TAS team – MC and judges – also had a wonderful time, impressed by the hard work of the students, their collaboration, creativeness and camaraderie. Congratulations to you all.

 

Jennie Bales

MC for the day

CBCA Tasmania Committee.

Celebrating the 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards

Anna Davidson, one of the Tasmanian judges for the 2026 Book of the Year Awards, provides readers with a window into the prestigious national award ceremony held at the State Library of NSW. What a wonderful experience!

Friday 21 August was a big day in the Australian children’s literary world, with the announcement of the 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

As a teacher librarian, it’s always a day to eagerly anticipate; slipping out of class if necessary to check the winners at 12pm, before spending lunchtime with other passionate children’s literature enthusiasts, umming and ahhing, agreeing and disagreeing over the judges’ choices.

In 2026, however, there was a different kind of excitement for me. As one of the 2026 CBCA judges, it was the day that I, along with all the other judges, no longer had to keep the results secret!

Many of the judges were represented at the official Awards Ceremony at the State Library of NSW, and it was a delight to catch up with them in person for the first time since our judges’ deliberation conference in February.

The CBCA has worked hard to ensure that student voices are prominent in the Awards Ceremony, so it was wonderful to see students taking on the role of MCs and to hear from Shadow Judges as they shared their thoughts on the shortlisted Younger Readers and Older Readers books.

Student press interviewing Jo Pankridge -
CBCA National Chairperson. Image © CBCA

It was also wonderful to see so many of the shortlisted creators in attendance. As a judge, it was a particular treat to meet authors and illustrators whose work I had spent so many months reading, discussing and debating, and to share in their joy as their books were celebrated so publicly.

Award Ceremony Convenors - Alex & Marissa
Award recipients - Anne Donaldson& Cate James
Image © CBCA

Thank you to the CBCA for putting on such a fabulous event and for bringing Australian authors, illustrators, publishers, judges, readers and, of course, students together to celebrate contemporary Australian children’s literature.

Older Reader Award recipients. Image © ACBCA

Early Childhood Award Recipients. Image © CBCA

And while the 2026 awards may have drawn to a close, the work has already begun for the 2027 CBCA judges. A new wave of incredible books is arriving in our homes, ready to be read, re-read and pored over, with plenty of time to consider their place in the ever-evolving story of Australian children’s literature.

Eleri Harris at the Award Ceremony
 Image © CBCA

Anna Davidson

Head of Library, The Hutchins School

CBCA 2026/27 Judge: Early Childhood category

Editor's note: Find out more about Tasmanian award winner Eleri Harris and Tasmanian Shadow Judges on the CBCA Tasmania blog.

The 2026 Northern Primary Readers’ Cup

 What does a thylacine ghost, dry-land dog sledding, a marvellous submarine, bus-bullies, and potentially untrustworthy fish have in common?  The 2026 Northern Primary School Readers’ Cup!

On the 28^th of May, 108 excited upper primary students arrived at Hagley Farm School to participate in the 2026 Northern Primary School Readers’ Cup, vying for a chance to have their school’s name added to the trophy.

This year saw a record number of schools involved, with 20 taking part from across the north of the state from as far reaching as Cressy, Exeter, Beaconsfield, Scottsdale, Ringarooma and Flinders Island.

Students began reading the books in Term 1, with this years’ set comprising a wide range of themes and text types.

The five books read by the Readers' Cup teams

Prior to the final each school held their own event with a quiz about the books and time for each team to share a creative piece that demonstrated the message or theme of one of the books.  At school level, 382 students participated this year, with the winning team from each school going on to compete in the Final. 

We began our afternoon with the Extra Challenge - an on-the-spot, 10-minute task based on an additional book.  

Then came the Quiz – a much harder version than the one already experienced at their school event.  The quiz is weighted to be the most important part, with teams needing to show an excellent knowledge of the books.

Longford Primary School working together in the Quiz phase. (Photo credit - Jessica Jackson)

Finally, in front of a large crowd of school staff and families, these amazing teams shared their creative ideas about the book their team had chosen to showcase.  These varied from songs, to dioramas, plays, and PowerPoint presentations.  Our volunteer judges certainly had their work cut out for them!  With 20 performances to share, our teams were each aiming to enlighten us in 3 minutes or less.

Photo caption – Teams sit at the front of the audience with blankets, cushions and snacks, while watching each other on stage (Photo credit - Jessica Marston)

Students had a large and supportive crowd to perform to. (Photo credit – Jessica Marston)

Nerves were faced and the crowd was well and truly entertained, with serious and humorous moments filling the evening.

At the end of the night, we were so pleased to announce Longford Primary School as the winning school for the second year in a row, with new-comers Ringarooma finishing 2nd, and Flinders Island taking out 3rd.  

Our winners! Longford Primary School, holding their CBCA Tas Branch sponsored Petrarch’s Bookshop voucher, a set of the books supplied by the School Libraries team, and the trophy! (Photo credit - Jessica Jackson)

Across the evening, we were able to share some snippets of student feedback, which came from over 160 responses from students involved at school-level.

The following quotes capture the most common answers when students were asked about their favourite part of Readers’ Cup:

“The quiz was really fun and I made a new friend and got closer to the people in my group.”

“Learning to read better and working as a team to create a performance that we all enjoyed.”

“Exploring all the different books and seeing how they are pictured in my head.”

“Reading new books and discovering new authors.”

“Getting to read all the books and that there was such a variety of stories.”

“I loved the Readers Cup because there were lots of twists and turns and it was competitive but not too competitive.  It was really fun and challenging.  Also we had to show teamwork which I loved.”

“Getting on the stage and getting out of my comfort zone.”

“It encouraged me to read more.”

“Honestly, it was just being on a team and reading books with my friends.”

A very big thank you must go to the CBCA Tasmania Branch for generously providing Petrarch’s Bookshop vouchers for all participating schools, and of course, the winner’s prize.

We are so fortunate to have this support from the CBCA Tasmania Branch, willing school staff who go above and beyond, our dedicated volunteer judges, assistance from the School Libraries team, and of course the families involved, all enabling students to have this wonderful opportunity to celebrate books and reading together.

Jessica Marston
Teacher Librarian, Hagley Farm Primary School
Coordinator of the Northern Primary Readers’ Cup

A Window into the 2026 Judges & Judging – the Jury is OUT!

The merry month of May has provided Tasmanian children’s literature lovers with two fascinating presentations from CBCA Book of the Year Judges. Many thanks to Anna Davidson, Dr Mark Macleod and Kym Diprose for sharing deep insights and intriguing snippets about the judging processes and an array of spectacular books.

 

The first event was held in the Nettlefold Library at Hutchins with stunning views of the Derwent providing a fitting backdrop. With all books across the six categories on display there was opportunity for attendees to view titles beyond the range of the judges’ readings. Mark started the afternoon with coverage of the Picture Book short list and also referenced other titles from the notable lists. He then followed Anna to explore the New Illustrator titles.

Mark’s passion for, and knowledge of, the artistic techniques and the power of imagery to elevate or expand a text was evident throughout with insights shared. Of special note for me were Dawn and the unique and alternative First Nations books The Frogs First Song and Tiwi in Paris. His expertise flowed through to discussions around the outstanding works by new Illustrators and the varied techniques that were applied. Highlighting fine art techniques and design qualities added value and certainly made me reflect more deeply on the selections.

Anna Davidson not only hosted this session and set up the book displays, she also starred in her role as judge, talking about key features of each of the shortlisted books. Her insights were insightful and certainly made me reconsider some of the books from a more enlightened perspective that will send me back for a re-read of a couple of titles.  Some titles were entered in more than one category, The Thing About Christmas being one example, that both judges could talk to, and Anna’s unpacking of the powerful illustrations by Briony Stewart was especially valuable. 

Anna drew our attention to some interesting aspects of the submissions including the number of board books and their quality - no mean feat in regard to themes and language for such a young audience. Counting Crocodiles, a notable entry, was a firm favourite. The criteria applied in the judging process included language, illustration, characterisation, setting plot, theme, mood, source material, design elements, age- appropriateness and production value and it was interesting to hear how these were evident within the books.

With some time free at the end, there was a chance to ask questions and to share some thoughts and feedback on books in other categories. It was insightful to hear how practitioners and fellow readers also reacted to the books under the spotlight.

 

A week later a smaller, but just as enthusiastic group, met at the bright and inviting library at Leighland Christian College. Once again, Mark shared his expertise – I particularly enjoyed his sharing and analysis of Being Indy as a New Illustrator shortlisted title – that has deepened my appreciation for this book for a wider audience – one to talk about in forthcoming Secondary Launceston talk.

Kym Diprose, as a new comer to Tasmania, provided a personal story that established her street cred, and this was entertainingly demonstrated throughout the session. The six titles are all diverse in regard to gender with some strong male characters evident this year, and also coverage across different genres and age levels with realistic fiction being strongly represented. The judges were informed by the values evident in the books - equity, diversity, quality, integrity and respect. The short listed stories revolved around strong characters resolving a range of ethical and problematic issues in convincing ways. 

Sharing insights into not just the short listed books, but also a number of titles from the notable list proved the audience with broader perspectives. Themes of cooperation, creativity, friendship, family environment and loss and grief were common and octopuses were in abundance! With one graphic novel, Inked, on the list, Kym also highlighted three other titles and talked about the high level of design and production in all of these. 

The grand finale for the event was the opening of Kym’s first package of books for next year’s awards, which she had collected on her way to Ulverstone. We all felt part of the process.

Many thanks to the judges for not only the time and commitment involved in being a CBCA judge, but also the joy and passion in sharing their experiences and thoughts with the participants. A grand time was had by all, but we will have to wait until the August 21 before Judges’ verdict is IN! Stay tuned to the website for updates on the Book of the Year announcements.

 

Jennie Bales

Retired teacher librarian and avid reader

CBCA Tasmania Social Media Coordinator

 

 

Editor’s note: Wish you were there? Join a team of devoted readers and practitioners, including a past judge, to discuss the short list and selected notable titles in one of two events in June. There are two more sessions scheduled in Launceston.

Make the most of your membership for free access to:

** June 2, 4-6 pm. Primary Short List Book Discussion at Riverside Primary School. Book here.

** June 10, 4-6 pm. Secondary Short List Book Discussion at Scotch Oakburn Senior School. Book here.

Read the judges’ critiques of all the shortlisted titles in the 2026 Notable Booklet at the e-store on the CBCA website.