Your guide to the Children's Prize shortlist
The Readings Children's Prize shortlist is the perfect reading list for kids ages 9+ and the perfect gift guide for anyone shopping for discerning young readers. But if you're not sure which of the six shortlisted titles to start with, here's a quick guide to help your little one find the right book for them.
For kids who love to perform, or just love to laugh 🎭
Get Your Act Together, Doris Kozlowski by Jo Dabrowski
Doris Kozlowski's life is anything but normal. Her mum plays singing vegetables in TV commercials. Her little brother befriends pebbles and potatoes. And don't even get her started on her babcia.
But Doris is good at pretending to be just like everyone else, and she has a plan to get through Year Six: keep her head down, keep her family away from the school, and keep her best and only friend, the perfect Felicity. So when Felicity ditches her for the popular girls before their first class even starts, Doris needs a new plan. She figures if she can win the talent show, Felicity will want to be friends again, and Doris can get her life back.
For kids who are fascinated by history or by animals 🕊️
Spies in the Sky by Beverley McWilliams
Royal Blue is a royal racing pigeon from a long line of champions. Every morning he wakes in his comfortable loft at Sandringham House, eats the very best seeds and spends the day training with his best friend to be the fastest and strongest pigeon in Britain.
But there's a war going on, and things are changing. Then one day the King himself comes to the loft and chooses Blue for a very special assignment.
As Blue goes on missions, helping with rescues, carrying secret messages and facing dangers he never could have imagined, one thing will become clear: never underestimate a pigeon.
For young detectives in the making 🔍
Batthew Aromascent and the Missing Corpse Flower by Ella Mulvey & John Roebuck
When the world’s largest and most pungent flower goes missing right before its grand unveiling, the smell-mad city of Candlenut is in uproar. Luckily, Batthew Aromascent, 11-year-old heir to the famed Olfactory Fragrance House, and his best friend, Lavender, are on the case.
Batthew and Lavender have just three days to track it down before the flower wilts and dies, along with any clues they can find as to the whereabouts of Batthew's missing parents. But are the two friends prepared for what they’ll find in the darker corners of the fragrance world?
For a sweet adventure in the Australian bush 🌳
Wurrtoo by Tylissa Elisara, illustrated by Dylan Finney
Wurrtoo the wombat lives a quiet and solitary life in his burrow on Kangaroo Island, hoping to one day travel to the mainland and marry the love of his life, the sky. When Wurrtoo inadvertently saves Kuula the koala from a bushfire, he acquires the adventure companion he didn't know he needed.
With Kuula by his side, Wurrtoo leaves the safety of his burrow and sets out on an epic journey to cross the island, reach the mainland and climb to the top of tallest tree in the Forest of Dreaming. But it's fire season, and danger and strange creatures lurk behind every gum tree.
For any kids grappling with identity 🧩
To and Fro by Anton Clifford-Motopi
Sam thinks he's a weird-looking white kid with an afro. He lives with his white mum (annoying but not smelly) and brown dog Trevor (smelly but not annoying). He's never met his father. He just knows that his father is black.
But a surprise visit has Sam questioning who he really is. Is he a white kid with a black dad? Or a black kid with white skin? Or half-black and half-white? And how can he make his outside match his inside if he doesn't know who he is?
For kids who like their adventures with a touch of spookiness 👻
The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright by Reece Carter, illustrated by Simon Howe
Nobody in Elston-Fright believes in magic anymore. Well, nobody except for Flip Little, his nan and his friends: a girl called Corpse, a ghost called Girl and a very large spider called Simon.
But when Simon is spider-napped by ancient weather ghouls called the Poltergusts, Flip and his ghostly companions turn to the last Lightkeeper's journals for answers. To rescue their friend, they will need to find and return the missing Light to the lighthouse, restoring its lost magic.
