Coronavirus: The best books for children who are stuck at home

With the kids at home, parents may want to take a look at the shortlists for the Children’s Book Council of Australia awards.

Inspiring and entertaining stories are needed more than ever as the community self-isolates

With the kids at home for the foreseeable future, parents may want to take a look at the shortlists for the annual Children’s Book Council of Australia awards.

“Now, more than ever, our young people need relatable and inspiring characters and stories that uplift and entertain, bring them hope and help them to find a way through issues they face in their daily lives and in the wider world,” CBCA chair Margot Hillel said after announcing the shortlists on Tuesday.

A record number of six indigenous writers/illustrators are in contention, including Bruce Pascoe for the children’s version of his bestseller Dark Emu.

SEARCHING FOR CICADASLESLEY GIBBES, ILLUSTRATED BY JUDY WATSONWALKER BOOKS, RRP $27

Young Dark Emu: A Truer History is shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award, which recognises books that present factual information. Its rivals are Sami Bayly’s The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, Lesley Gibbes’s Search for Cicadas, illustrated by Judy Watson, Abbie Mitchell’s A Hollow is a Home, illustrated by Astred Hicks, Aunty Joy Murphy and Andrew Kelly’s Wilam: A Birrarung Story, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy, and Tohby Riddle’s Yahoo Creek: An Australian Mystery.

As usual with children’s books, animals real and imagined abound. Riddle’s book is about yowies; Bayly’s is about animals such as the purple pig-nosed frog.

The early childhood shortlist is David Metzenthen’s One Runaway Rabbit, illustrated by Mairead Murphy, Alexa Moses’s Bat vs Poss, illustrated by Anil Tortop, Kirsty Murray’s When Billy Was a Dog, illustrated by Karen Blair, Frances Watts’s My Friend Fred (Fred is a dachshund), illustrated by A Yi, Margaret Wild’s Goodbye House, Hello House, illustrated by Ann James, and Sue deGennaro’s We’re Stuck!

In the running for picture book of the year are Chris McKimmie’s I Need a Parrot, Stephen Michael King’s Three (about a dog), Caroline Magerl’s Nop (about a bear), Sophie Blackall’s Hello Lighthouse, Jules Ober and Felicity Coonan’s The Good Son: A Story from the First World War, Told in Miniature, with text by Pierre-­Jacques Ober, and Anna Walker’s Tilly, with text by Jane Godwin.

Professor Hillel said the shortlists “paint a vibrant picture of Australia’s wildlife, history, people and indigenous culture”.

WILAM: A BIRRARUNG STORYAUNTY JOY MURPHY & ANDREW KELLY, ILLUSTRATED BY LISA KENNEDYWEEKEND KIDS BOOKS

“Several of the books explore confronting and challenging themes but the authors do so with skill and sensitivity — and, most importantly, with heart,” she said.

The older readers (13-18) shortlist is CG Drews’s The Boy Who Steals Houses, Helena Fox’s How It Feels to Float, Lisa Fuller’s Ghost Bird, Malla Nunn’s When the Ground is Hard, Astrid Scholte’s Four Dead Queens and Vikki Wakefield’s This Is How We Change the Ending.

The younger readers (seven-12) shortlist is Pip Harry’s The Little Wave, Deborah Kelly’s The Thing About Oliver, Bren MacDibble’s The Dog Runner, Meg McKinlay’s Catch a Falling Star, Emily Rodda’s The Glimme, illustrated by Marc McBride, and Edwina Wyatt’s The Secrets of Magnolia Moon, illustrated by Katherine Quinn.

The new illustrator shortlist is Grant Cowan (Louie and Snippy Save the Sea), Bethany Macdonald (Paperboy), Jess McGeachin (Fly), Leanne Mulgo Watson (Cooee Mittigar: A Story on Darug Songlines), Jasmine Seymour (Baby Business), and Johnny Malibirr Warrkatja (Little Bird’s Day).

The CBCA awards were inaugurated in 1946. This year’s winners will be announced on August 21, the launch date for CBCA Book Week. This year’s theme is “Curious Creatures, Wild Minds”.