Book Week: what is it?

In 1946 the Children's Book Council of Australia established annual book awards to promote children's books of high literary and artistic quality. Winning women authors received a camellia and men received a handshake!

Today, these awards are the most influential and highly respected in Australia bringing winning authors both fame and fortune.

CBCA 2020 Winners

CBCA Book of the Year 2020 winners announced

16 October 2020

The winners of the 2020 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced.

The winning titles and honour books in each category are:

Older readers: winner

This Is How We Change the Ending (Vikki Wakefield, Text)

Older readers: honour books

The Boy Who Steals Houses (C G Drews, Hachette)
Ghost Bird (Lisa Fuller, UQP)

Younger readers: winner

The Little Wave (Pip Harry, UQP)

Younger readers: honour books

The Glimme (Emily Rodda, illus by Marc McBride, Scholastic)
The Secrets of Magnolia Moon (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Katherine Quinn, Walker)

Early childhood: winner

My Friend Fred (Frances Watts, illus by A Yi, A&U)

Early childhood: honour books

When Billy Was a Dog (Kirsty Murray, illus by Karen Blair, A&U)
Goodbye House, Hello House (Margaret Wild,illus by Ann James, A&U)

Picture books: winner

I Need a Parrot (Chris McKimmie, Ford Street)

Picture books: honour books

Nop (Caroline Magerl, Walker)
Three (Stephen Michael King, Scholastic)

Eve Pownall Award for information books: winner

Young Dark Emu: A truer history (Bruce Pascoe, Magabala)

Eve Pownall Award for information books: honour books

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals (Sami Bayly, Lothian)
Wilam: A Birrarung story (Aunty Joy Murphy & Andrew Kelly, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Walker)

Crichton Award for new illustrators: winner

Baby Business (Jasmine Seymour, Magabala).

Why is it so? - Professor Julius Sumner Miller

Why is it so? - the ground-breaking TV series with the enigmatic Professor Julius Sumner Miller - ran on the ABC from 1963 to 1986. Professor Miller's infectious enthusiasm for physics delighted, educated and entertained generations of Australians, most of whom have at some point asked each other 'Why is it so?' in the characteristic Julius Sumner Miller voice.

The Lab has found some of the funniest, most entertaining segments from the Why is it so? series, and made them available for twenty first century enjoyment - over both dialup or broadband connections. Now you too can watch some 'enchanting experiments' with the good professor!