Top Picks from the CBCA 2020 Shortlist
Tomorrow marks the start of CBCA Book Week - a wonderful time to celebrate books and Australian children’s authors and illustrators!
Whether you’re attending a school book parade or need a new book to get lost in, our 6 picks from the CBCA 2020 Shortlist will give you all the inspiration and adventure you need.
A BIG congratulations to all the creators and publishers who won a Book of the Year Award. There were so many thought-provoking and uplifting books to pick from in each category - it must have been hard choosing just one!
This week, we’re celebrating all the winners and the books that made it onto the shortlist all under the theme of ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds’.
Visit us in store or online to view the collection and keep an eye on our socials, we’ll be posting on the CBCA Book Week till October 23.
Now, let’s get into the books!
AVAILABLE IN STORE AND ONLINE.
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How it Feels to Float by Cath Crowley
Our pick for the Older Readers Category!
Biz knows how to float. She has her people, posse, her mum and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, and who shouldn't be here but is. So Biz doesn't tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn't tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface - normal okay regular fine.
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The Secrets of Magnolia Moon by Edwina Wyatt, Illustrated by Katherine Quinn
Our pick for the Early Readers category!
Magnolia Moon is nine years old, likes Greek mythology, her best friend Imogen May (who understands the importance of questions like, "If you could be one fruit, any fruit, what would you be?"), wishing trees, and speaking crows. She knows instinctively that buffadillos are armadillos crossed with buffalos and believes there are walramingos living in her garden. She's also the kind of person who can be entrusted with a great many secrets. Each chapter in this novel, which captures Magnolia's year of being nine and ends on Chapter Almost 10, reveals a secret that Magnolia is keeping. But the novel also chronicles a year of change for Magnolia. From her best friend moving to the birth of her little brother Finnegan, Magnolia navigates every challenge and secret that comes her way with the kind of authenticity and innocence that comes from being nine years wise.
BUY IT NOW: https://bit.ly/2IBSNGv
One Runaway Rabbit by David Metzenthen, Illustrated by Mairead Murphy
Our pick for the Early Childhood category!
One pet rabbit. One dark night. One hungry fox. A wonderfully entertaining picture book about a clever pet rabbit on the run.
BUY IT NOW: https://bit.ly/2Fyv4pn
Nop by Caroline Magerl
Our pick for Picture Book of the Year!
Nop is a scruffy kind of bear. He sits on a dusty armchair in Oddmint's Dumporeum surrounded by the beaders, knitters, patchers and stitchers who are much too busy to talk to him. So he watches the litter tumble until, armed with a new bow tie, he has an idea that will change his life forever. This story began with a memory of Caroline's school holidays in Sydney. Her father was welding a steel yacht in a boat yard and she wandered off...only to discover the local dump, a home for the things people throw out! Many years later, her daughter Jen made a teddy bear out of scraps for her father. It's a very sorry-looking, but endearing creature. Named Roadkill, ten years later it still sits on top of his desk.
BUY IT NOW: https://bit.ly/3k4KvVs
Yahoo Creek: An Australian Mystery by Tohby Riddle
Our pick for the Eve Pownall Award!
Luminous images accompanied by newspaper extracts dating back to the early 1800s and words by Ngiyampaa Elder Peter Williams explore the ongoing mystery of yahoo encounters. 'He was surprised to observe a hairy human form, about seven feet in height, walking in the bush.' Queanbeyan Age, 24 August 1886. Throughout the first century or so of Australian settlement by Europeans, the pages of colonial newspapers were haunted by reports of a bewildering phenomenon: the mysterious yahoo or hairy man ... But what was it? Yahoo Creek breathes life into this little-known piece of Australian history - which, by many accounts, is a history still in the making. 'These stories are not my stories or your stories, they're our stories.' Peter Williams, Ngiyampaa Elder
BUY IT NOW: https://bit.ly/3k9V2ig
Baby Business by Jasmine Seymour
Our pick for the New Illustrator category!
Baby Business tells the story of a Darug baby smoking ceremony that welcomes baby to country. The smoke is a blessing – it will protect the baby and remind them that they belong. This beautiful ritual is recounted in a way young children will completely relate to and is enhanced by gentle illustrations. Darug language words are integrated throughout, with a glossary at the back. Central to this stunning book is a message of connection to Country and the need to care for it.
BUY IT NOW: https://bit.ly/3duaXFx