Presenting the CBCA Shortlist - 2021

Congratulations to all CBCA Shortlist Authors, Illustrators and Publishers for 2021


Download the Shortlist - 2021 in PDF

Watch the special 2021 Shortlist announcement on YouTube


Book of the Year: 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

The End of the World is Bigger than Love
Davina Bell
Text Publishing
ISBN:  9781922268822
The Lost Soul Atlas
Zana Fraillon
Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9780734419934
When Rain Turns to Snow
Jane Godwin
Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9780734420053
Metal Fish, Falling Snow
Cath Moore
Text Publishing
ISBN:  9781922330079
Where We Begin
Christie Nieman
Pan Macmillan Australia
ISBN:  9781743535660
Peta Lyre's Rating Normal
Anna Whateley
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:  9781760525309
Book of the Year: 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.

Aster's Good, Right Things
Kate Gordon
Riveted Press
ISBN:  9780648492573
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst
Jaclyn Moriarty
ill. Kelly Canby
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:  9781760875060
Worse Things
Sally Murphy
ill. Sarah Davis
Walker Books Australia
ISBN:  9781760651657
We Are Wolves
Katrina Nannestad
HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780733340888
Bindi
Kirli Saunders
ill. Dub Leffler
Magabala Books
ISBN: 9781925936667
The Book of Chance
Sue Whiting
Walker Books Australia
ISBN: 9781760651367
Book of the Year: 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.

Busy Beaks
Sarah Allen
Affirm Press
ISBN:  9781925972948
Who's Your Real Mum?
Bernadette Green
ill. Anna Zobel
Scribble Kids' Books
ISBN:  9781925849493
No! Never!
Libby Hathorn & Lisa Hathorn-Jarman
ill. Mel Pearce
Hachette Australia
ISBN:  9780734418906
Anemone is not the Enemy
Anna McGregor
Scribble Kids' Books
ISBN:  9781922310118
There's No Such Thing
Heidi McKinnon
Allen & Unwin
ISBN:  9781760877279
We Love You, Magoo
Briony Stewart
Penguin Random House Australia
ISBN:  9781760896904
Picture Book of the Year

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.

The Unwilling Twin
Freya Blackwood
HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:  9781460757536
Not Cute.
Philip Bunting
Scholastic Australia
ISBN: 9781760972387
Norton and the Bear
Gabriel Evans
Berbay Publishing
ISBN:  9780648785132
Ellie's Dragon
Bob Graham
Walker Books Australia
ISBN:  9781406387629
How to Make a Bird
Matt Ottley
text. Meg McKinlay
Walker Books Australia
ISBN:  9781925381894
Your Birthday Was the Best!
Felicita Sala
text. Maggie Hutchings
Affirm Press
ISBN:  9781925972535
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.

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals
Sami Bayly
Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9780734420015
Azaria: A True History
Maree Coote
Melbournestyle Books
ISBN:  9780648568407
Dry to Dry: The Seasons of Kakadu
Pamela Freeman
ill. Liz Anelli
Walker Books Australia
ISBN:  9781760650285
Strangers on Country
David Hartley & Kirsty Murray
ill. Dub Leffler
National Library of Australia
ISBN:  9780642279552
Hold On! Saving the Spotted Handfish
Gina M Newton
ill. Rachel Tribout
CSIRO Publishing
ISBN: 9781486311842
Matthew Flinders - Adventures on Leaky Ships
Carole Wilkinson
ill. Prue Pittock
Wild Dog Books
ISBN:  9781742034935
CBCA Award for New Illustrator

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

Ribbit Rabbit Robot
Sofya Karmazina
Scholastic Australia
ISBN: 9781743834060
No! Never!
Mel Pearce
Hachette Australia
ISBN: 9780734418906
Seven Seas of Fleas
Dave Petzold
Starfish Bay Publishing
ISBN: 9781760360986
Shirley Purdie: My Story, Ngaginybe Jarragbe
Shirley Purdie
Magabala Books
ISBN: 9781925936131
This Small Blue Dot
Zeno Sworder
Thames & Hudson Australia
ISBN: 9781760761110
Go Away, Worry Monster!
Robin Tatlow-Lord
EK Books
ISBN: 9781925820393