The Winners and Honours of the 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards have been announced! The awards include categories for picture books, junior, middle grade, and young adult fiction. In addition to each winner and two Honour Books in each category, a judges panel made up of young readers have chosen their own Shadow Judging Book of the Year winners.
Established in 1946, the annual CBCA Book of the Year Awards aim to promote quality literature for young Australians by Australians, and celebrate contributions to Australian children’s literature.
Book of the Year: Older readers
Darkest Night, Brightest Star
Barry Jonsberg
'Darkest Night, Brightest Star is an authentic, heartfelt, and beautifully written coming-of-age story that looks deeply at toxic masculinity from a male perspective.' – Judge's report
Thirteen-year-old Morgan lives with his dad and his older brother, Mitch. He hasn't heard from his mum since she left when he was two. He works hard on his football skills, striving to meet his father's high expectations and 'be a man'.
But what that means isn't always clear-cut. When Morgan makes a friend at school, gets injured in a game, and his long-lost mum turns up, everything changes. Then, when he meets an old woman in need of help, Morgan must decide what kind of man he wants to be.
Shining a timely and much-needed light on different kinds of masculinity, Darkest Night, Brightest Star is a unique and compelling novel from a masterful storyteller.
✨ The Shadow Judges selected This Stays Between Us by Margot McGovern.
📚 Also honoured were Golden by Jade Timms and Birdy by Sharon Kernot.
Book of the Year: Younger readers
Inked
Karen Wasson & Jake A Minton
'Inked is a dynamic work, shortlisted because the atmospheric colour, styling and detail within the visual elements provide such a natural background rhythm to thoughtful prose and imaginative presentation of themes.' – Judge's report
For fans of Remy Lai's Pawcasso and Raina Telgemeier's Drama comes this hilarious enemies-to-besties graphic novel, about a kid who just wants to blend in and an opera-singing octopus who loves to stand out!
Brimming with hilarity, hijinks and plenty of heart, every page of this brilliant suburban adventure sparkles with slapstick humour and fish-out-of-water misunderstandings. With extraordinary full-colour artwork from CBCA-celebrated illustrator Jake A. Minton, and a bonus 'making of' section at the end, readers of all ages will be surprised and delighted with this stand-out graphic novel for middle-grade readers..
✨ The Shadow Judges selected Run by Sarah Armstrong.
📚 Also honoured were Run by Sarah Armstrong and Little Bones by Sandy Bigna.
Book of the Year: Early childhood
The Emperor's Egg
Rae Tan
'The Emperor’s Egg was shortlisted for its seamless combination of compelling storytelling, emotional depth and striking illustrations. Its thoughtful pacing, character-driven dialogue and high production values create a rich reading experience.' – Judge's report
A wondrous and richly illustrated reimagining of an ancient Chinese folktale about integrity, courage and patience.
Looking for a worthy successor to his throne, an ageing emperor gives all the children in his kingdom an egg. After thirty days, he will judge what each child delivers to him and choose his heir.
Ren brings his egg home and takes the best care of it. He reads to it, sings to it, sleeps with it and keeps it warm. Ren waits and waits, but his egg never hatches, while all around him wondrous hatchlings are emerging from other children's eggs.
In a hall full of magical creatures, how can Ren present his unhatched egg to the emperor?
✨ The Shadow Judges selected Derek by Anne Donaldson & Matt Shanks.
📚 Also honoured were The Thing About Christmas by Jo Dabrowski & Briony Stewart and Derek by Anne Donaldson & Matt Shanks.
The Emperor's Egg is currently out of stock. We will be receiving new copies as soon as possible.
Picture Book of the Year
Once I was a Giant
Zeno Sworder
'Once I was a Giant is a visually breathtaking, thought-provoking story that sparks the imagination while remaining rooted in the essential truth of how vital trees are to our survival.' – Judge's report
When a picture-book maker runs out of stories, his pencil decides it's time to tell her own ... From the award-winning author of My Strange Shrinking Parents, Once I was a Giant is a luminescent and hopeful tale about our living natural world.
This stunning book is an ode to trees and their relationship with humans, written from the perspective of a tree itself.
✨ The Shadow Judges selected Dear Broccoli by Jo Dabrowski and Cate James.
📚 Also honoured were Bob and Dob by Sean E. Avery and Tiwi In Paris by Glen Farmer Illortaminni.
The Eve Pownall Award
Peculiar Parents
Stephanie Owen Reeder & Ingrid Bartkowiak
'Encyclopaedic without ever feeling so, and well-aligned with the aim of the Eve Pownall category in extending understanding of non-fiction texts. The book is of a high-production quality, with humorous & engaging text well-supported by illustrations and historical taxonomy drawings.' – Judges' report
Welcome to the charmingly funny and perfectly peculiar world of Aussie animal mums and dads and their awesome kids.
Peculiar Parents explores 60 Australian native animals, focusing in particular on all things family, including their courting practices, gestation periods, births and the raising of their young.
Discover the weird and wonderful, the cute and cuddly even the slimy and ugly! You will find parrots that play the drums and cuttlefish that can change the colour of their skin to attract a mate, as well as dancing spiders, kissing lizards, parading pelicans, plonking pobblebonks and many more.
Presented through fascinating, funny and amazing facts with an impactful family photo wall design, this book is perfect for young readers aged 6 to 12.
✨ The Shadow Judges selected The Thylacine and the Time Machine by Renée Treml.
📚 Also honoured were A Loo of One’s Own by Eleri Harris and Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles by Corey Tutt & Ben Williams
The CBCA Award for New Illustrator
Eleni Harris won this category for
A Loo of One's Own
'Harris’s art deco palette and magazine comic strip/ advertising style immediately position the narrative in the 1920s, when Australia’s first parliament house was opened. But Harris adds an irreverent 21st Century breeziness to her construction of the period, inviting her readers to laugh at this convergence of patriarchy, Australian bad planning, and political history.' – Judges' report
In 1943, the first two women were elected to the Australian parliament. Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney had very different political views, but they soon discovered they had at least one problem in common: none of the loos for elected officials in Parliament House were marked 'Ladies'.
Award-winning cartoonist Eleri Harris tackles an important moment in Australian history in a humorous and lighthearted way, illuminating themes of equality and accessibility for readers of all ages.
Read more about the 2026 winners here.
