Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book

The Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book has been presented occasionally since 1955 by the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA).

Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book
Awarded for	Excellence in Australian picture books
Country	Australia
Presented by	Children's Book Council of Australia
First awarded	1955
Website	http://cbca.org.au/index.htm

The Award "will be made to outstanding books of the Picture Book genre in which the author and illustrator achieve artistic and literary unity, or, in wordless picture books, where the story, theme or concept is unified through illustrations."^[1]

Award winners

1950s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
1955	No award				[2]
1956	Peggy Barnard	Sheila Hawkins	Wish and the Magic Nut	John Sands	[3]
1957	No award				[2]
1958	Axel Poignant	photographs	Piccaninny Walkabout	Angus & Robertson	[4]
1959	No award				[2]

1960s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
1960	No award				[5]
1961	No award				[5]
1962	No award				[5]
1963	No award				[5]
1964	No award				[5]
1965	Elisabeth MacIntyre		Hugh's Zoo	Constable Young Books	[6]
1966	No award				[7]
1968	No award				[8]
1969	Ivan Southall	Ted Greenwood	Sly Old Wardrobe	Cheshire	[9]

1970s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
1970	No award				[10]
1971	A. B. Paterson	Desmond Digby	Waltzing Matilda	Collins	[11]
1974	Jenny Wagner	Ron Brooks	The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek	Longman Young	[12]
1975	A. B. Paterson	Quentin Hole	The Man from Ironbark	Collins	[13]
1976	Dick Roughsey	Dick Roughsey	The Rainbow Serpent	Collins	[14]
1978	Jenny Wagner	Ron Brooks	John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat	Viking Kestrel
1979	Percy Trezise	Dick Roughsey	The Quinkins	Collins

1980s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
1980	Peter Pavey		One Dragon's Dream	Nelson Australia	[15]
1981	No award				[16]
1982	Jan Ormerod	Jan Ormerod	Sunshine	Penguin Books	[17]
1983	Pamela Allen	Pamela Allen	Who Sank the Boat?	Nelson Australia	[18]
1984	Pamela Allen	Pamela Allen	Bertie and the Bear	Nelson Australia	[19]
1985	Not awarded				[20]
1986	Terry Denton	Terry Denton	Felix & Alexander	Oxford University Press	[21]
1987	Helen Smith, text based on a story by Kenji Miyazawa	Junko Morimoto	Kojuro and the Bears	Collins	[22]
1988	Bob Graham	Bob Graham	Crusher is Coming!	Lothian	[23]
1989	Graeme Base	Graeme Base	The Eleventh Hour	Viking Books	[24]
	Allan Baillie	Jane Tanner	Drac and the Gremlin	Viking Kestrel	[25]

1990s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
1990	Margaret Wild	Julie Vivas	The Very Best of Friends	Margaret Hamilton
1991	Bob Graham	Bob Graham	Greetings from Sandy Beach	Lothian
1992	Jeannie Baker		Window	Julia MacRae
1993	Bob Graham	Bob Graham	Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten	Penguin Books
1994	Gary Crew	Peter Gouldthorpe	First Light	Lothian
1995	Gary Crew	Stephen Woolman	The Watertower	Keystone, Era
1996	Narelle Oliver		The Hunt	Lothian
1997	Elizabeth Honey		Not a Nibble!	Little Ark
1998	Junko Morimoto, translated by Isao Morimoto	Junko Morimoto	The Two Bullies	Random House
1999	John Marsden	Shaun Tan	The Rabbits	Lothian

2000s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
2000	Margaret Wild	Anne Spudvilas	Jenny Angel	Viking Books
2001	Margaret Wild	Ron Brooks	Fox	Allen and Unwin
2002	Libby Gleeson	Armin Greder	An Ordinary Day	Scholastic Press
2003	Norman Jorgensen	Brian Harrison-Lever	In Flanders Fields	Fremantle Arts Centre Press
2004	Joan Grant	Neil Curtis	Cat and Fish	Lothian
2005	Alison Lester	Alison Lester	Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia	Viking Books
2006	Colin Thompson		The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley	Lothian
2007	Shaun Tan	Shaun Tan	The Arrival	Lothian
2008	Matt Ottley		Requiem for a Beast	Lothian
2009	Kylie Dunstan		Collecting Colour	Lothian

2010s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
2010	Gregory Rogers		The Hero of Little Street	Allen & Unwin
2011	Jeannie Baker		Mirror	Walker Books
2011	Nicki Greenberg		Hamlet	Allen & Unwin
2012	Bob Graham	Bob Graham	A Bus Called Heaven	Walker Books
2013	Julie Hunt	Ron Brooks	The Coat	Allen & Unwin
2014	Shaun Tan	Shaun Tan	Rules of Summer	Hachette Australia
2015	Irena Kobald	Freya Blackwood	My Two Blankets	Little Hare, Hardie Grant Egmont
2016	Nadia Wheatley	Armin Greder	Flight	Windy Hollow Books	[26]
2017	Bob Graham	Bob Graham	Home in the Rain	Walker Books	[27]
2018	Gwyn Perkins	Gwyn Perkins	A Walk in the Bush	Affirm Press	[28]
2019	Shaun Tan	Shaun Tan	Cicada	Lothian	[29]

2020s

Year	Author	Illustrator	Book	Publisher	Ref.
2020	Chris McKimmie	Chris McKimmie	I Need a Parrot	Ford Street	[30]
2021	Meg McKinlay	Matt Ottley	How to Make a Bird	Walker Books	[31]
2022	Claire Saxby	Jess Racklyeft	Iceberg	Allen & Unwin	[32]
2023	Zeno Sworder	Zeno Sworder	My Strange Shrinking Parents	Thames & Hudson	[33]
2024	Kelly Canby	Kelly Canby	Timeless	Fremantle Press	[34]

See also

• Children's literature portal

• List of CBCA Awards
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. CBCA Guidelines for Publishers Archived February 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
2. "Austlit — Picture Book of the Year (1955-)". Austlit. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
3. ""'Wish and the Magic Nut by Peggy Barnard". Austlit. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
4. ""Colourful Display for Children's Book Week"". The Canberra Times. 8 July 1958. p. 4. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
5. "Austlit — Picture Book of the Year (1955-)". Austlit. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
6. ""Children's Book Awards"". The Canberra Times. 3 July 1965. p. 14. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
7. "The award winners". The Canberra Times. 9 July 1966. p. 12. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
8. "Children's Book Week - Prizewinners". The Canberra Times. 6 July 1968. p. 13. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
9. "Book Council Award Winners". The Canberra Times. 12 July 1969. p. 16. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
10. "Judges' Awards". The Canberra Times. 11 July 1970. p. 16. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
11. "1971 Awards". The Canberra Times. 10 July 1971. p. 15. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
12. "Judges' Report". The Canberra Times. 6 July 1974. p. 11. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
13. "No major award for children's books". The Canberra Times. 26 April 1975. p. 11. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
14. "1976 children's book awards announced". The Canberra Times. 10 July 1976. p. 3. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
15. "Children's". The Canberra Times. Vol. 54, no. 16, 361. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 12 July 1980. p. 13. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
16. ""No Picture Book of Year prize"". The Canberra Times, 11 July 1981, p9. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
17. ""1982 Australian Children's Book of the Year Award"". The Canberra Times, 24 July 1982, p13. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
18. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1983". Austlit. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
19. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1984". Austlit. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
20. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1985". Austlit. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
21. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1986". Austlit. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
22. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1987". Austlit. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
23. "Austlit — Crusher is Coming — Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
24. "Austlit — The Eleventh Hour — Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
25. "Austlit — Drac and the Gremlin — Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
26. "Book of the Year - Winners 2016". Children's Book Council of Australia. 19 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
27. Convery, Stephanie; Harmon, Steph (17 August 2017). "Claire Zorn's grief-and-surfing story wins children's book of the year award". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
28. "Book of the Year Awards 2018". Children's Book Council of Australia. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
29. "CBCA Awards 2019 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 16 August 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
30. "CBCA Book of the Year 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 16 October 2020. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
31. "CBCA Book of the Year 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
32. "CBCA announces 2022 Book of the Year Awards". Books+Publishing. 19 August 2022. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
33. "CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2023 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
34. Story, Hannah (16 August 2024). "'It's never been so difficult to get a book into kids' hands': The book prize reaching young people". ABC News. Retrieved 16 August 2024.

External links

• CBCA Awards History