Professional Development Activity: Review & Judging of the CBCA Book of the Year 2020, Early Childhood category shortlist

Established in 1946, the annual Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards are presented during CBCA Book Week. Awards are given in six categories: Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Book, Eve Pownall Award for non-fiction works, and New Illustrator. The intention of the CBCA awards is to “promote quality literature for young Australians, support and encourage a wide range of Australian writers and illustrators of children’s books, and to celebrate their contributions to Australian children’s literature” (CBCA, n.d.). The judging panel for the awards is comprised of financial members of the CBCA who are experts in children’s literature, children’s librarians, and teacher librarians.

I decided to read and review the six shortlisted books from the 2020 awards in the Early Childhood category and decide my own winner (see appendix 1.). As most of my early childhood reading is for the purpose of storytime sessions I devised my own criteria that included storytime appeal. I looked at the CBCA criteria which includes: Literary merit, Cohesiveness, Appeal to the implied readership, and Quality (CBCA, 2020, p. 5), and then decided on my own measures which involved giving a score out of 30. This was achieved by five points apiece for Story, Illustrations, Cohesiveness, Storytime Appeal, and an overall score out of 10 for the complete feel of the book. I read through the six shortlisted books and scored them according to my criteria and determined a winner and runner up.

It was difficult to judge the hard work of the creators. I normally read for pleasure and do not analyse in great depth, which is why I chose not to judge on literary merit, as the CBCA judges do. In the past I have not always liked the winners chosen for the CBCA awards and after completing this activity I find myself asking – who are the awards benefiting? Do children want to read these books that have been chosen and judged solely by adults? A comparison of two literary awards in the United States, one voted by children and the other by adults, discovered that there was limited crossover between the two (Beach, 2015). Further research would need to be completed to determine if the results would be similar in Australia. The comparison by Beach found that children tended to choose books that were simple and enjoyable where adults chose books that were more challenging and focused on more serious topics (p. 19).

Participation in this activity has taught me that judging children’s books is a difficult task, I cannot even imagine the impossible assignment of choosing the longlist. I have also learnt that even though a book wins an award it may not be favoured by its intended audience. I enjoy participating in Book Week each year, including promoting the shortlisted books. Literary awards such as the CBCA Book for the Year are important for celebrating the achievements of creators, but I do not think we should limit ourselves to these books. Whilst they may have more literary value, it is important for children to read books they enjoy and for us as library professionals to provide them with opportunities to discover books they will fall in love with, regardless of awards won. To further my knowledge on this I will endeavour to look at awards chosen by readers, such as the Bilby Awards from the Queensland branch of the CBCA, and to read from industry publications, such as Magpies and The Book Curator to keep well-informed on children’s literature.

References

Beach, John D. (2015). Do children read the children’s literature adults recommend? A comparison of adults’ and children’s annual “best” lists in the United States 1975–2005. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 21(1), 17-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614541.2015.976075

The Children’s Book Council of Australia. (n.d.). About the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. https://www.cbca.org.au/about-the-awards

The Children’s Book Council of Australia. (April, 2020). The CBCA Book of the Year Awards policy. https://www.cbca.org.au/entry-information

Appendix

My friend Fred / written by Frances Watts ; illustrated by A. Yi

Synopsis: My friend Fred is a story of friendship and embracing our differences. Fred is an energetic and playful dachshund who doesn’t appear to have much in common with his best friend, the narrator of the story who we do not properly meet until the end of the book. The ‘friend’ points out all their differences (howling at the moon, digging holes and eating dog food – yuck!), until finally we meet at the end. The friend is a cat who finishes the story with the lines “But even though we are different, Fred is my best friend.”

Review: I really loved this story. It is simple and engaging with a relatable message that children will understand. Yi’s illustrations are beautiful and add to the story, mostly by creating a super adorable main character in Fred. There are glimpses of the cat throughout the book for observant readers to find. I love the end papers of this book, the front cover populated with various images of Fred, the back with his best friend, the cat. The story is told in short sentences with some repetition (“My friend Fred…”) which would make it a great Storytime book. Each page has ‘Fred’ printed in a different colour which can add another element to the reading experience.

Score:

When Billy was a dog / written by Kirsty Murray ; illustrated by Karen Blair

Synopsis: When Billy was a dog tells the story of a young boy who is desperate for a dog of his own. He begs his parents, but they are not sure if he is ready for a dog just yet. Feeling cheeky, one morning Billy decides to become a dog himself, walking around on all fours, eating from a bowl on the floor and wagging his bottom. In the end Billy’s parents surprise him with a dog, the last of a litter from their neighbour’s dog Fluff.

Review: This is a cute story that many will relate to. Simple language with illustrations dominating the page. This is a longer story that would probably be better in a one-on-one situation; I feel I would lose the crowd in a Storytime session. The illustrations by Blair are lovely and really enhance the story. The expressions on the characters faces show their emotions beautifully, from Billy’s desperation while begging, his concern for Fluff and then pure joy when presented with his very own puppy. Overall, this is a great story but perhaps a little long and hopefully doesn’t set kids up for disappointment who would also like a pet of their own.

Score:

One runaway rabbit / written by David Metzenthen ; illustrated by Maired Murphy

Synopsis: This is a story of a pet rabbit named Lulu who leaves her home for a night of adventure and narrowly escapes danger from a hungry fox before returning home to her owner.

Review: One runaway rabbit is a story mostly told in pictures, with sparse text on each page, some pages with no text at all. I like this concept; it is a great book for beginner readers to start to read independently and with so few words it calls for imagination from the reader to contribute your own ideas to the story. The illustrations are great, I especially love the spotlight on Lulu on the front cover. The endpapers show us the route of Lulu’s night of mischief, a lovely addition to talk about before and after the story. This is a great book for one-on-one or in a small group, but it may be difficult in a larger group setting with so many people wanting to talk about Lulu’s antics.

Score:

Goodbye house, hello house / written by Margaret Wild ; illustrated by Ann James

Synopsis: Goodbye house, hello house is the story of Emma who is moving from her house in the country to live in the city. The story begins with Emma saying goodbye to her house and experiencing some things for the last time (“This is the last time I’ll pat this pony.”) and concludes with her moving to a new house and saying hello.

Review: I felt sadness at the beginning as Emma listed all the things she was doing for the last time but as she began to say goodbye to her house you could feel her excitement, perfectly expressed in the illustrations. There was still some sadness, but the anticipation for something new was also there. As Emma explores her new house and says “Hello” there is joy and excitement for new adventures. This is a wonderful book, with a story that may only be familiar to some but expresses emotions we have all felt – the feeling of being unsure of the unknown, sadness at losing something and excitement and curiosity when exploring somewhere new. The illustrations are amazing – black and white line drawings in the foreground with colour added to the background. This is a simple story with repetition as Emma first says “goodbye” and then “hello” that would be great for a storytime group.

Score:

Bat vs poss / written by Alexa Moses ; illustrated by Anil Tortop

Synopsis: Meek the possum lives happily in a big tree with her sisters and many other animals and birds until a cranky bat named Squabbles moves in who doesn’t want to share the space. The animals band together to get rid of Squabbles in a showdown of Bat vs Poss.

Review: I loved that this story was so Australian, from the cast of Aussie animals (including a messy bat who leaves droppings everywhere) to the red wheelie bin. The illustrations are amazing with so much detail, and perfectly tell the story to the point that you don’t even need the text. This is a rhyming story, which I usually prefer but did struggle with at the beginning. This is a story of bullying, friendship and team work as the animals work together to get rid of the bat but ultimately all learn to live together harmoniously. I had one irritant – a character named ‘Bluey the Tongue’, so named to fit into the rhyming structure. I am not a fan of writing things that don’t make sense just to fit into a rhyme (unless you’re going full Dr Seuss) and while I can appreciate how difficult it must be to write a story in rhyme I do wish the author had written this part differently.

Score:

We’re stuck / written and illustrated by Sue deGennaro

Synopsis: The residents of Building 24 are always in such a hurry that they have never had time to get to know each other. Until the day they all get stuck in the elevator and nothing was ever the same again.

Review: This book has lovely illustrations and the front cover made me want to read the book. The story may go over the head of children, life being so busy that neighbours don’t take the time to get to know each other until they are forced to spend time together and work as a team to make a child’s birthday a happy occasion. I found the story a bit “blah” so probably wouldn’t use it for storytime. I also found some pages had more writing than I go for in a picture book.

Score:

And the winner is…My friend Fred / written by Frances Watts ; illustrated by A. Yi

Runner up… Goodbye house, hello house / written by Margaret Wild ; illustrated by Ann James