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picture_book_of_the_year_2021

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Picture Book of the Year 2021

Entries in this category should be 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. Ages 0-18 years (NB. Some of these books may be for mature readers).

From 8 June to mid July, Story Box Library will be releasing two CBCA shortlisted titles each week from the Early Childhood, Picture Book and New Illustrator categories. https://storyboxlibrary.com.au/blog/get-excited-for-cbca-book-week-2021?fbclid=IwAR14mvkE7MUg3E-52fk5tAD2rbxJNVxnvxdQ0M0XqOmXutYPNTrha3BXFWE

Elizabeth Skorulis and Lauren's presentation from the Book Week Forum.

Freya Blackwood The Unwilling Twin HarperCollins Publishers 9781460757536

Philip Bunting Not Cute. Scholastic Australia 9781760972387

  • Themes: acceptance, self-identity, self-perception, cuteness, communication, dealing with aggression, anti-social behaviours, humour,; and Australian wildlife.
  • Philip Bunting's website https://philipbunting.com/books/not-cute/
  • The refrain “too cute” and response “not cute” could be used with a speech bubble to get audience participation while reading the story - perhaps split the group in half with each half calling out
  • uncommon Australian animals feature - could they be recreated in craft activities?
  • Reading Time review http://readingtime.com.au/not-cute/
  • Fun story about where over-confidence and stubbornness can lead you if you’re not careful
  • Quokka is very cute, but has no interest in being cute. He wants to be dangerous like a dingo, scary like a frill-neck, majestic like an eagle, deadly like a redback. He even tries to be ferocious like a crocodile, after which a passing crocodile decides not to chomp him, because he is so cute. So quokka chomps the crocodile instead, who is quite put out at this development. Snake arrives on the scene, also aware of the quokka’s cuteness, which is where the quokka makes his mistake. “Not cute,” he says, leaping. “Not cute,” says the snake, after eating him.
  • Consistent repetition of the title: “Too cute,” say the other animals. “Not cute,” responds the quokka.
  • Quote included at the end of the book on the publishing information page: “The stubborn listen to nobody’s advice and become a victim of their own delusions.” Aesop. Quokka puts himself in harm’s way, removing his natural defence against dangerous predators. The whole thing could have been avoided if not for his stubbornness and desire to be something he is not.
  • Always in the background, we see the length of the snake, which is not immediately evident. The endpapers also follow this pattern. Consistent danger that the quokka is not aware of, because he is so focused on not being cute.
  • Beautiful, textural illustrations in natural tones with simple, contrasting narration underneath. This lends itself to a great activity where kids could make a textural picture with nature elements they find outside, where they could then add pictures of Australian animals.
  • Scholastic teachers notes
  • “Too big for his boots” – activity where kids could create an artwork might showing someone who is too big for their boots, either literally or figuratively
  • Gorgeous costumes/masks/headbands that quokka wears to look like each of the animals. All the options in the world here: dress-up competition, headband making and mask-making activities of various types (find spider headband)
  • Really simply, a great research activity about quokkas, their habitat and their predators
  • The story lends itself to a fun reader’s theatre, especially in a preschool storytime setting, although the ending may be a little confronting! It would work well as a puppet show also, with great Australian animals to utilise.
  • Could also be included as part of a library scavenger hunt for primary-aged kids, where they have to locate pictures throughout the library, or locate books containing information about the animals
  • Animal ideas for storytime: matching real pictures of each of the animals with the illustrated versions, hidden game where a real picture of various Australian animals are gradually revealed and kids have to guess them, ‘Simon says’ activity where kids have to bark like a dingo, flap their wings like an eagle, snap like a crocodile, etc.

Gabriel Evans Norton and the Bear Berbay Publishing 9780648785132

Bob Graham Ellie’s Dragon Walker Books Australia 9781406387629

  • Themes: imaginary friends, friendship, imagination, growing up and family
  • Teaching notes https://classroom.walkerbooks.com.au/home/ellies-dragon-by-bob-graham/
  • Beautiful, relatable story about imaginary friends and identity. Short phrase “no friendship is imaginary” listed on all the online reviews, which is such a lovely description of this story.
  • Ellie finds a tiny dragon at the supermarket and she calls him Scratch. She plays with him at home and we realise that Scratch is an imaginary friend, as her mother can’t see him. Her friends at nursery school are able to see him, but Ellie’s teacher can’t. Ellie goes to school and leaves Scratch at home, who is growing bigger alongside her. Scratch is there through the events of Ellie’s life, including birthday parties, movie watching, and sleepovers. But things change. Scratch is not as involved in the things Ellie does, and he starts to fade. He slips away, and Ellie hardly remembers when he was with her. But then it shows Little Sam leading a full-grown Scratch down the street.
  • A lovely story about the imagination of children, something that sadly disappears over time as we grow up. What we need as children might be different to what we need as adults, but all of it is important. Quote from Harry Potter: “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
  • Gorgeous supermarket endpapers – the first showing Ellie’s discovery of Scratch in the egg section, the second showing Sam leading a full-grown Scratch through the store.
  • Soft, shaded, rainbow illustrations against a plain white background. Combination of watercolours and pencil and thicker ink lines. Give the book a dreamy quality that supports the theme of imagination.
  • The story describes Scratch’s changing rainbow colours as like “oil on water”, which natural lends itself to art activities with either watercolours or oil pastels or both.
  • Scratch lives in Ellie’s dolls house for the first part of the story, until he’s too big to fit inside it and sleeps on a fire blanket in the corner. A diorama activity could work for this, using donated and recycled materials to create a house for Scratch to live in. This could be paired with a 3D printing activity where kids could either design their own dragon, or pay to print a copy of a design that already exists to put in their ‘dolls house’ (see examples of 3D printed dragons).
  • Paper aeroplane dragons or origami dragons.
  • Pajama storytime or dance party – more of a reach during covid times, doable depending on space and procedures.
  • A short story competition where children have to write about an imaginary friend they might have had when they were younger, or even still have.
  • Colouring-in competition that can be completed and returned to the library – eg Scratch as a baby.

Matt Ottley (text by Meg McKinlay) How to Make a Bird Walker Books Australia 9781925381894

Felicita Sala (text by Maggie Hutchings) Your Birthday Was the Best! Affirm Press 9781925972535

Back to 2021 Book Week Forum

picture_book_of_the_year_2021.1625529153.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/07/05 18:52 by mylee.joseph_sl.nsw.gov.au