Table of Contents
Shortlist: Book of the Year: Younger Readers
Entries may be fiction, drama or poetry. They must be appropriate in style and content for readers from middle to upper primary years (ages 7 - 12 years).
General notes and copyright
NB: Photocopying of book covers is covered by the 2016 agreement between ALIA and the Australian Publishers Association is in place see https://www.alia.org.au/copyright-and-book-covers (please note the following publishers are not members of the Australian Publishers Association: EK Books, Riveted Press, Scribble Kids’ Books, Starfish Bay Publishing).
Ideas for using the books
Judy Hannah's presentation slides from the Book Week Forum
- online tool for making anagrams of book titles https://wordsmith.org/anagram/
- online tool for making jigsaws https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/
Kate Gordon Aster’s Good, Right Things. Riveted Press 9780648492573
- Themes: contemporary - island - setting (Tassie?) - mental health/anxiety disorder
- Age: upper primary/lower secondary
- Display information from kidshelpline https://kidshelpline.com.au/teens/issues/anxiety
Jaclyn Moriarty (illus. by Kelly Canby) The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst. Allen & Unwin 9781760875060
- Themes: fantasy, third novel in the Kingdoms and Empires series
- Age: 10 - 14 years
- Reading Time Review http://readingtime.com.au/the-stolen-prince-of-cloudburst/
Sally Murphy (illus. by Sarah Davis) Worse Things. Walker Books Australia 9781760651657
- Themes: contemporary, sports, verse novel
- Ages: 10 years +
- a display of “fridge poetry” with sporting themes - each visiting class could write a poem together
- Reading Time review http://readingtime.com.au/worse-things/
- Sally Murphy's website http://sallymurphy.com.au/2020/05/welcome-worse-things/
Katrina Nannestad We Are Wolves. HarperCollins Publishers 9780733340888
- Themes: WW2 - set in Germany - war - survival
- Age: 10 years +
- “Wolf children” was the name given to East Prussian children who lost their parents in the last days of World War II and fled to neighboring Lithuania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_children and an image of some Wolfskinder https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lost_children_russia_about_1942.jpg
- Reading Time review https://readingtime.com.au/we-are-wolves/
Kirli Saunders (illus. by Dub Leffler) Bindi. Magabala Books 9781925936667
- Themes: contemporary - Indigenous author and character - climate - bush fires - verse novel
- Age: 10 years +
- Kirli Saunders' website including lots of links to teaching resources https://kirlisaunders.com/resources/
- Teaching Indigenous Content (notes from Magabala Books) https://www.magabala.com/pages/teaching-indigenous-content
- Reading Time review http://readingtime.com.au/bindi/
- Teaching resources from Reading Australia (Copyright Agency) https://readingaustralia.com.au/lesson/bindi/
Sue Whiting The Book of Chance. Walker Books Australia 9781760651367
- Themes: contemporary - set in Wollongong - social media - family & friendships - truth & lies
- Sue Whiting's website https://suewhiting.com/the-book-of-chance/
- A CBCA video of Sue introducing the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iCtyncYuHM
- Reading Time review https://readingtime.com.au/the-book-of-chance/
—- Back to 2021 Book Week Forum