Congratulations to the winners of the CBCA’s Book of the Year awards, recognising the best in Australian children’s literature.

To kick off Book Week, which hits schools and libraries across Australia in the coming week, the Children’s Book Council of Australia has announced its Book of the Year winners - the most prestigious awards for children’s literature in the country.

Congratulations to all the winning authors, illustrators and publishers - and all those with honoured books as well.

Older Readers

Scot Gardner

(Honour books: A Straight Line to My Heart by Bill Condon and When We Were Two by Robert Newton)

Younger Readers

Kate Constable

(Honour books: Nanberry: Black Brother White by Jackie French and The Truth About Verity Sparks by Susan Green)

Early Childhood

The Runaway Hug

Nick Bland and Freya Blackwood

(Honour books: Come Down Cat! by Sonya Hartnett and Lucia Masciullo and That’s Not a Daffodil! by Elizabeth Honey)

Picture Book of the Year

A Bus Called Heaven

Bob Graham

(Honour books: The Dream of the Thylacine by Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks andFlood by Jackie French & Bruce Whatley.)

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch

(Honour book: The Little Refugee by Anh & Suzanne Do and Bruce Whatley)

Alison Lestor, along with Boori Monty Pryor, is an Australian Children’s Laureate for 2012-13. She wrote a fantastic blog post for us last year detailing the workings behind her award-winning book One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island. You can read it here.

For more on the CBCA awards visit cbca.org.au.