CBCA 2026 Book of the Year: Shortlist Mega Bundle

CBCA BOOK WEEK: AUGUST 22-28 2026

Theme: Symphony of Stories!

Older Readers
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for readers in their secondary years of schooling. Ages 13-18 years.
Note: Books in this category are for mature readers and some may deal with particularly challenging themes including violence and suicide. Parental guidance is recommended.

Younger Readers
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for readers from the middle to upper primary years. 7-12 years.
Note: Some of the titles in this category may only be suitable for readers who are in the upper primary years as they contain mature themes, including violence. Parental guidance is recommended.

Early Childhood
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for children who are at pre-reading or early stages of reading. Ages 0-6 years.

Picture Books
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.
Note: Some of these books may be for mature readers.

Information Books (Eve Pownall Award)
Entries in this category should be books which have the prime intention of documenting factual material with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and variation of style. Ages 0-18 years.
Note: Books in this category are for mature readers and some may deal with particularly challenging themes including violence and suicide. Parental guidance is recommended.

New Illustrator
This Award aims to recognise and encourage new talent in the field of Australian children's book illustration. Ages 0-18 years.

This bundle includes the following 35 Shortlisted Books:

OLDER READERS

• Darkest Night, Brightest Star - Barry Jonsberg (Allen & Unwin)
• Golden - Jade Timms (Text Publishing)
• Of Flame and Fury - Mikayla Bridge (Macmillan Australia)
• This Stays Between Us - Margot McGovern (Penguin Random House Australia)
• Unhallowed Halls - Lili Wilkinson (Allen & Unwin)
• We Saw What You Started - Carla Salmon (Pan Australia)

YOUNGER READERS

• Inked - Karen Wasson, illustrated by Jake A Minton (Figment Books)
• Little Bones - Sandy Bigna (University of Queensland Press)
• The Paperbark Tree Committee - Karys McEwen (Text Publishing)
• Run - Sarah Armstrong (Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
• Spirit of the Crocodile - Aaron Fa’aoso & Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White (Allen & Unwin)
• Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces: Something Terrible #1 - Sally Barton, illustrated by Christopher Nielsen (Walker Books Australia)

EARLY CHILDHOOD

• The Colours of Home - Sally Soweol Han (Thames and Hudson Australia)
• Derek - Anne Donaldson, illustrated by Matt Shanks (Little Hare)
• The Emperor’s Egg - Rae Tan (Lothian Children’s Books)
• Frogs Are Our Friends - Toni D’Alia, Madeline White (Bright Light)
• My Nonno Loves - Adelle Frittitta, illustrated by Claudia Frittitta (Little Hare) 
• The Thing About Christmas - Jo Dabrowski, illustrated by Briony Stewart (Little Book Press)

PICTURE BOOKS

• Bob and Dob - Sean E Avery (Walker Books Australia)
• Dawn - Marc Martin (Walker Books Australia)
• Dear Broccoli - Cate James, text by Jo Dabrowski (Affirm Press)
• The Frog’s First Song - Jason Phu, text by Jazz Money (University of Queensland Press)
• Once I was a Giant - Zeno Sworder (Thames and Hudson Australia)
• Tiwi in Paris - Glen Farmer Illortaminni (Thames and Hudson Australia)

INFORMATION BOOKS (Eve Pownall Award)

• A Loo of One’s Own* - Eleri Harris (Allen & Unwin)
  *Shortlisted in 2 categories; this Shortlist Mega Bundle contains 1 copy only.
  Extra copies can be ordered if required.
• Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles - Corey Tutt, Ben Williams (Allen & Unwin)
• Ningaloo - Tim Winton, illustrated by Cindy Lane (Fremantle Press)
• Peculiar Parents - Stephanie Owen Reeder, illustrated by Ingrid Bartkowiak (NLA Publishing)
• There’s a Prawn in Parliament House: The Kids’ Guide to Australia’s Amazing Democracy - Annabel Crabb, illustrated by First Dog on the Moon (Allen & Unwin)
• The Thylacine and the Time Machine - Renée Treml (Allen & Unwin)

NEW ILLUSTRATOR

• A Farm by the Sea - Jillian Packer (Berbay Publishing)
• A Loo of One’s Own* - Eleri Harris (Allen & Unwin)
  *Shortlisted in 2 categories; this Shortlist Mega Bundle contains 1 copy only.
  Extra copies can be ordered if required.
• Being Indy - Estee Sarsfield, text by Zoe Gaetjens (WestWords Children’s)
• Beyond the Shore - Mark Chester Harding, text by Kirli Saunders (Scholastic Press)
• Prayer for a River - Uncle Glenn Loughrey, text by Andrew Kelly & Uncle Glenn Loughrey (Wild Dog Books)
• Save the Gum Trees, Bees and Big Blue Seas - Luke John Matthew Arnold (Scholastic Press)