Nine Penguin and Puffin books have been selected for the CBCA Book Awards Notables list this year.
Check out the nine Penguin and Puffin books that have been selected for the CBCA Book of the Year Notables list.
From gorgeous picture books to spine-chilling thrillers, there’s something for every young reader on this list
Book of the Year: Older Readers
Neverlanders by Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva
From bestselling author Tom Taylor and powerhouse comic artist Jon Sommariva, comes this Peter Pan re-imagining. Neverlanders follows Bee and her fellow runaways who run into a Lost Boy from Neverland. Spirited away to Neverland by a foul-mouthed Tinker Bell, the group discovers that Neverland is not as amazing as they had imagined. Instead, it’s a war-torn land under siege by a horde of pirates. Will this new group of Lost Ones be able to save Neverland?
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What We All Saw by Mike Lucas
What We All Saw begins in 1972 with a dare between a group of friends. When one friend ends up in the hospital, the group is taunted by secrets, nightmares and questions. While they know that their bullies were involved, something happened that night that nobody can explain.
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Book of the Year: Younger Readers
All Four Quarters of the Moon by Shirley Marr
Adapting to her new life in Australia, Peijing hopes that everything will turn out alright for her family. But in their new home, she can’t help but notice that things seem different. Ma Ma isn’t herself, Ah Ma keeps forgetting who she is and Ba Ba is learning how to be a hands-on dad. Peijing needs to be a dependable big sister for Biju, but the uncertainty sometimes feels like so much to handle. If her family makes up the four quarters of the mooncake, where does Peijing fit in?
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The Book of Wondrous Possibilities by Deborah Abela
Arlo Goodman has an unusual life. He lives above a bookshop with his uncle, and his only friend is his pet mouse. One day, a girl named Lisette bursts into the shop begging for Arlo’s help and what happens next will change his life forever. As Arlo becomes swept up in an adventure involving kidnappers and car chases, he discovers that the courage he’s always longed for has been within him the whole time.
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We Run Tomorrow by Nat Amoore and Mike Barry
Sticks, Maki, Jed and Tommy live on the same street. But the adults around them are making decisions that could tear the friends apart. When they find out that auditions are being held for a movie adaptation of their favourite comic book series, the kids realise their opportunity. Get into the audition. Get the parts. Stay together.
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What About Thao? by Oliver Phommavanh
Thao and Kadir both want to fit in. Thao is a city kid who has just moved to a country town, and Kadir hopes that this new classmate can be his friend. When Thao learns about Kadir’s love of poetry, he helps his Kadir find his voice through words – and along the way, the two realise that their experiences are more alike than they first thought.
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Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon by Gabrielle Wang
Zadie loves writing magical stories, and sometimes they come true. One day, she sets out to find her story-dog Jupiter – and when she does, she can hardly believe that she wrote him into existence. Her mom won’t let Zadie have a dog, so she brings him to her new friend’s house, but a series of unlucky events means that Zadie can’t write the happy ending she longs for.
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Book of the Year: Early Childhood
This Little Joey by Renée Treml
This Little Joey is a beautiful board book starring Australia’s many marsupial joeys. They come in many different shapes and sizes, but each one is equally cute. Read along to discover some of our country’s rare, endangered and lesser-known baby marsupials.
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Picture Book of the Year
Dirt by Sea by Michael Wagner and Tom Jellett
Explore the wonderful Australian coastline with Dad and Daisy in Dirt by Sea. Full of comic-style illustrations, the book charts the adventure of this little family as Daisy first experiences the ocean and the many marvellous places in Australia. Warning: this book will make you want to take a road trip ASAP!
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A wonderful new board book starring Australia's many marsupial joeys, by bestselling author Renée Treml.
Explore our wonderful coastline and the joy of a family road-trip with Dad and Daisy!
Along the way, they will discover all about Australia and much, much more.
26 books for school libraries that students will love.
Graphic novels are the perfect way to get disinterested readers to pick up a book. Check out some of the best graphic novels for kids of all ages.
Discover some of the best Penguin Random House books of 2023 with this list of award-winning and shortlisted titles this year.
Join us as we travel back in time through 2022 with the authors that hit the road this year.
Halfway through her time as Laureate, Gabrielle shares what she enjoyed in 2022 and what she is looking forward to in 2023.
We chatted with author Michael Wagner and illustrator Tom Jellett to learn about their new book, Dirt by Sea.
We sat down with Oliver Phommavanh to talk about his new book, What About Thao? Learn all about it and the personality traits he shares with the main characters.
Learn about The Book of Wondrous Possibilities and the writing group that helped the author perfect it.
We all need a little help choosing our next read sometimes. This time, we've got you sorted!
Discover the best Penguin Random House books of 2022 with this list of award-winning and shortlisted titles this year.
All about Gabrielle Wang's new book, Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon.