The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its Notable Books for 2019. Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers!

The CBCA Awards were first presented in 1946 and are the longest-running book awards in Australia.

(This year the judges received 488 books for consideration and have enjoyed a range of themes, characters and stories across the five categories.)

CBCA National Chair Professor Margot Hillel OAM says: ‘The 2019 entries reflect the incredible diversity of lives in our society. This was particularly evident in the Early Childhood category, with stories about characters with disabilities, and with different ethnicities and family structures.’

Here are the notable books for each category.

Older Readers

Books in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and are appropriate in style and content for readers in their secondary years of schooling. Ages 13-18 years

Find the full list of notables for this category here.

Younger Readers

Books in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and are appropriate in style and content for readers from the middle to upper primary years. Ages 8-12 years.

Find the full list of notables for this category here.

Early Childhood

Books in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and are appropriate in style and content for children who are pre-reading or early stages of reading. Ages 0-7 years.

Find the full list of notables for this category here.

Picture Book of the Year

These are outstanding books of the picture book genre in which the author and illustrator achieve artistic and literary unity or, in wordless picture books, where the story, theme or concept is unified through illustrations. Ages 0-18 years

Find the full list of notables for this category here.

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

These are books which have the prime intention of documenting factual material with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and variation of style. Ages 0-18 years.

Find the full list of notables for this category here.

The Notable Books acts as the longlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. The shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 26 March and the winners on Friday 16 August. Find out more about the CBCA Awards here.