CBCA Book of the Year Winners 2012

On Friday, 17th August 2012,  I attended the Children's Book Council Australia, Book of the Year 2012 Awards announcement at the National Library of Australia.

The CBCA Book of the Year awards recognise and award the outstanding literary talent from Australian authors in Children's literature. Australian Olympic Gold Medallist Petria Thomas, Andrew Leigh MP and members from the CBCA ACT branch waited with bated breath to hear the awards announced. 

Book of the Year: Older Readers

WINNER: The Dead I Know Scot Gardner

HONOUR: A Straight Line to My Heart Bill Condon

HONOUR: When We Were Two Robert Newton

Book of the Year : Younger Readers

WINNER: Crow Country Kate Constable

HONOUR: Nanberry: Black Brother White Jackie French

HONOUR: The Truth About Verity Sparks Susan Green

Book of the Year: Early Childhood

WINNER : The Runaway Hug Nick Bland, Ill. Freya Blackwood

HONOUR: Come Down, Cat! Sonya Hartnett, Ill. Lucia Masicullo

HONOUR: That's not a daffodil! Elizabeth Honey

Picture Book of the Year

WINNER: A Bus Called Heaven Bob Graham

HONOUR: Flood Bruce Whatley, Text: Jackie French

HONOUR: The Dream of the Thylacine Ron Brooks, Text: Margaret Wild

Eva Pownall Award for Information Books

WINNER: One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch

HONOUR: The Little Refugee Anh & Suzanne Do, Ill. Bruce Whatley

 HONOUR: Surrealism for Kids Queensland Art Gallery



Andrew Leigh, Petria Thomas and Mollie Bialkowski with the shortlisted books.




Book of the Year winner Early Childhood- The Runaway Hug, and Honour Book-That's not a Daffodil



Girls from Canberra Girls Grammar School performing That's not a Daffodil.



Storyteller Mollie Bialkowski reading Come Down Cat



After the Awards announcement  Tania McCartney, Pauline Deeves, Katie Taylor, Stephanie Owen Reeder and myself were invited to sign our books outside the National Library bookshop.



Book signing is always a pleasure.



My picture book Max Meets a Monster on display inside the bookshop.



After signing lots of books, we seized the opportunity to have coffee and a chat which was a rare treat as we don't meet very often. Then we braved  the wild wind and snow as we headed home.



The National Library




View across Lake Burley Griffin with storm clouds building




The lake and foreshore




Flags on display along the foreshore.





Captain Cook Memorial Jet



Could writing become an Olympic Sport?

I'm writing this with one eye on the telecast of the Olympic Games. I see the nerves, agitation and stress in the mannerisms of those competing. Why not? If it was me lined up to compete with the worlds fastest who made Olympic selection I too would be sweating it. After many years of training, and finely tuned to perfection, the day arrives and the athletes compete in their chosen field. For the most elite, it is success, and dreams achieved. For many, their dreams are shattered in minutes.
For writers, life is somewhat the same. A lengthy period of months or years slogging away writing what they hope will be the book that sees great success can end with a simple letter. The rejection letter! Not what one wants to find in a letterbox or an email. Like the athlete who returns home determined to train harder, and become the best they can, so too must the writer revisit the rejected work and make it their best work. The world is competitive and we all strive for success, however,  learning to accept failure along the way is also a vital part of life.