Children's Book Council of Australia: 2012 Children's Book of the Year Short List

Children’s Book Council of Australia: 2012 Children’s Book of the Year Short List

Written by Leah
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Have you ever found yourself lost in a good book? Let the evening slip away into the wee hours of the morning whilst you crossed the planes of time into another Era, or perhaps into another world? Did you find yourself a new kindred spirit who somehow articulated everything you felt with a little more panache? Books have that power. They bring to life places, times, and characters in a way that television can not. The world of books is a magical place that isn’t lost in adulthood, but can only truly begin with a solid foundation in childhood (or so I believe).

“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.” — Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The ability to read and the love for books are two gifts that I could not wait to bestow on my two children as I hungrily began collecting picture books a whole decade or more before they were born. To help me know which books to add to my collection, I have always turned to the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) and their annual Book of the Year Shortlist. This provides me with an enormous breadth of future aquistions from all genres.

I have a few favourites this year: A Bus Called Heaven which is endorsed by Amnesty International UK and tells the tale of Stella, friendship and the stength of community, Come down, cat!, as I am a huge Sonja Hartnett fan, and Flood by Jackie French.

This August, the Book of the Year will be announced during Book Week, the longest running children’s festival in Australia. We will reveal the winner on the KidStyleFile Facebook page as it is announced.