The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced their Book of the Year Awards winners for 2017. These Awards celebrate the best Australian books for readers in early childhood up to young adult readers.

Here are the winners for each category.

Older Readers

One Would Think the Deep by Claire Zorn

Sam has always had things going on in his head that no one else understands, even his mum. And now she’s dead, it’s worse than ever. With nothing but his skateboard and a few belongings in a garbage bag, Sam goes to live with the strangers his mum cut ties with seven years ago: Aunty Lorraine and his cousins Shane and Minty. This is a deeply moving story about lost young men.

Honour books:

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon

Younger Readers

Rockhopping by Trace Balla

Join Clancy and Uncle Egg on a rambling, rockhopping adventure in Gariwerd (the Grampians), to find the source of the Glenelg River. Kids Shop manager Angela Crocombe says that this story is ‘bound to have many young adventurers itching to get out there and into nature’.

Honour books:

Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr
Captain Jimmy Cook Discovers Third Grade by Kate and Jol Temple (illustrated by John Foye)

Early Childhood

Go Home, Cheeky Animals! by Johanna Bell (illustrated by Dion Beasley)

This is a funny, endearing story for young animal lovers. At Canteen Creek, there are cheeky dogs everywhere. But when the cheeky goats, donkeys, buffaloes and camels make mischief in the camp, the dogs just lie there – until those pesky animals really go too far. Then the cheeky camp dogs roar into action!

Honour books:

Nannie Loves by Kylie Dunstan
Gary by Leila Rudge

Picture Book of the Year

Home in the Rain by Bob Graham

This is a beautifully observed celebration of the way inspiration can, and often does happen in the most ordinary and unlikely of places. Francie and her mum, who is expecting a baby girl, are driving home from Grandma’s in the heavy rain. As the car steams up, Francie presses her little finger on the window, spelling out 'Daddy’ and ‘Mummy’ and leaving one space free, ready and waiting for the name of her soon-to-be sister…

Honour books:

Mechanica by Lance Balchin
The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke (illustrated by Van T Rudd)

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

Amazing Animals of Australia’s National Parks by Gina M Newton

Amazing Animals of Australia’s National Parks is a book that children will want to pore over – either at home, in the classroom or on a road trip. This book brings together 55 national parks, selected across all Australian states and territories, and over 120 animals.

Honour books:

A – Z of Endangered Animals by Jennifer Cossins
The Gigantic Book of Genes by Lorna Hendry

Crichton Award for New Illustrators

Van T Rudd for The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke

Street artist Van T Rudd brings his unique vision to this first picture book from award-winning author Maxine Beneba Clarke. In a village at the very edge of the No-Go Desert, a group of children get inventive and decide to build a bike from scratch, using everyday items like an old milk pot and a used flour sack. The end result is a spectacular bike, perfect for going bumpity-bump over sandhills, past a fed-up mum and right through the mud-for-walls home.

This year’s Children’s Book Week runs from 19 to 26 August with the theme ‘Escape to Everywhere’. For more information about the CBCA Awards and Children’s Book Week, visit the CBCA website.