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2015 Children's Book of the Year Awards Shortlist

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Short List 2015. War and other realities dominate Children's Book Council of Australia awards shortlists. One Minute's Silence, by Michael Camilleri and David Metzenthen, one of 19 picture books on war entered - and the one book shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year.

War and other realities dominate Children's Book Council of Australia awards shortlists

The continuing rise in the quality and sales of children's books should quell fears about the future of the book, according to the judges of Book of the Year Awards for the Children's Book Council of Australia. More than 400 books were entered for six awards. Information books in particular were very strong this year, said Angela Briant, the chairwoman of the national council (but not one of the eight judges), in announcing the shortlists for the 2015 awards on Tuesday. A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land, by Simon Barnard. Activities for Children’s Book Week, 2015. Activities for Children’s Book Week, 2015 by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com Children’s Book Week in Australia will be held from Saturday 22 August - Friday 28 August, 2015.

Activities for Children’s Book Week, 2015

With 2015 being declared the International Year of Light by the UN, how fitting it is that our Children’s Book Week theme is “Books light up our world.” Here's what that means to me: Book Week 2015 - Mrs Mac's Library. Bookweek for beginners. Audacity. Audacity (pdf) Emu. Emu Classroom Ideas (pdf) Tea and Sugar Christmas. When it comes to Christmas books, Tea and Sugar Christmas is the pinnacle for me.

Tea and Sugar Christmas

As a self-professed foodie, I fell in love with what I thought was a cute title. But, this book goes far beyond the cutesy Christmas tasks, fun traditions and rhyming texts we’ve come to see in most modern Christmas books. It tells a true Christmas story, one that is historically Australian and represents many Aboriginal and migrant workers of the outback. Tea and Sugar Christmas is a story based on the Trans-Australian Railway train that would travel for decades across the Nullarbor Plain. Tea & Sugar Train Exhibition Documentary (YouTube) Tea and Sugar Christmas Australian Curriculum teachers'notes (pdf) Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia - Amra Pajalic. Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia teacher notes (pdf) Coming of Age: Growing Up Muslim in Australia (YouTube) Mary's Australia: How Mary Mackillop Changed Australia. By Pamela Freeman Mary MacKillop changed the course of Australia's history.

Mary's Australia: How Mary Mackillop Changed Australia

Mary MacKillop watched Australia grow from a collection of small colonies into a nation - and she was proud of the country she had a part in creating. How did Australia change in her lifetime? Mary's Australia: How Mary Mackillop Changed Australia classroom ideas (pdf) A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land. A- Z of Convicts Teaching notes (pdf) Artist Simon Barnard recreates grisly history of Van Diemen's Land convict era. Updated For those who have ever wondered what our forebears, the convicts, looked like - down to their eye colour and tattoos - a new book offers a detailed picture of the early European inhabitants of Van Diemen's Land.

Artist Simon Barnard recreates grisly history of Van Diemen's Land convict era

A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land, by artist Simon Barnard, depicts the grisly reality of convict life in Tasmania through a series of painstakingly produced illustrations. A lack of visual references for the convict era prompted Barnard to attempt to undertake the project. "A lot of the picture books that did deal with this stuff had the same pictures over and over and over," he said. The Duck and the Darklings. Peterboy lives in a post-apocalyptic world--under the ground--the land of Dark.

The Duck and the Darklings

He lives there with his Grandpapa--in their hole in the ground, built with care and lit with love. Dark is not the most ideal place. It's broken and battered and ruined and jammed with lost and unspoken memories of a world long ago ... when all was bright and beautiful. The children of Dark, including Peterboy, rarely venture to the surface--to the Finding Fields--where they scavenge for things to bring back down below. Duck and the Darklings teacher notes (pdf) Duck and the darklings teacher review (pdf) Duck and the darklings. Fire. Fire teacher notes. Fire Teacher Notes. The Stone Lion. The Stone Lion teacher notes and activities (pdf) The Stone Lion teachers notes (pdf) One minute's silence. One minutes silence teacher review (pdf) One minutes silence teachers' notes (pdf) One Minutes Silence teachers notes and activities (pdf)

Rivertime. Rivertime aso. Rivertime teacher notes (pdf) My two blankets. My Two Blankets teacher notes (pdf) My Two Blankets teacher notes and activities (pdf) My two blankets teacher notes and activities (pdf) Pig the Pug - Shortlisted Early Childhood. While Aaron Blabey's 'darker' picture books have that wonderful mystical essence to them, I must admit, I simply adore it when he wades into the oftentimes treacherous waters of Funny.

Pig the Pug - Shortlisted Early Childhood

But there is no treachery here. There is only Funny. And clever. Pig The Pug. Pig the Pug teacher notes and activities (pdf) Pig the Pug teacher notes (pdf) Pig the Pug Colouring Competition. Scary Night Shortlisted Early Childhood. Scary night teacher notes and activities (pdf) A House of Her Own - Shortlisted Early Childhood. When Audrey announces to her father that his house is getting too small for her, good ol' Dad doesn't bat an eyelid.

A House of Her Own - Shortlisted Early Childhood

Instead, he agrees that she looks much bigger than she did yesterday, so the house probably would seem a bit small. He's even happy to help her find a new home. They check out the chicken coop — too small. Then the garage — too big. They're just going to have build Audrey a new house. A House of Her Own teachers notes. A House of her Own teachers notes and activities. Snail and Turtle are Friends - Shortlisted Early Childhood. Snail and Turtle are very good mates.

Snail and Turtle are Friends - Shortlisted Early Childhood

They love to do things together - walking, running, hiding, simply being quiet. They are friends but they are quite different. Snail likes to eat leaves, Turtle prefers flowers. Snail likes to climb and slide, Turtle likes to dive and swim. But differences don't matter when you are very good friends. Snail & turtle - Teacher notes. Snail and Turtle are friends - Teacher notes (pdf) Go To Sleep, Jessie! - Shortlisted Early Childhood. Baby Jessie won't go to sleep.

Go To Sleep, Jessie! - Shortlisted Early Childhood

Ever since she moved into her big sister's room, she wakes and she screams and she screams. Nothing will make her sleep. Go To Sleep Jessie - Teacher notes and activities. Noni the Pony Goes to the Beach - Shortlisted Early Childhood. Noni the adorable pony is back in this beautiful romp of a book for wee pony lovers.

Noni is such a friendly, funny pony. She loves going to the beach on sunny days, along with pals Coco the cat and Dave the dog. Coco doesn't like getting wet (she much prefers a snooze in a fishing net hammock) but Dave is keen to get close to a whale. Noni the pony goes to the beach - Teacher notes (pdf) Noni The Pony Goes to the Beach - Teacher notes and activities (pdf) The Simple Things Shortlisted Younger Readers. Click on the Google Preview image above to read some pages of this book! A slice of life story for younger readers told with affection and humour about Stephen, a boy who doesn't quite fit in, and his elderly Aunt Lola.

From the award-winning author of A Straight Line to My Heart. Stephen has never met his great aunt Lola, and he doesn't want to. She sends him money twice a year and he always writes back, but Lola is almost eighty - what will they have to talk about? When they arrive at her house, Stephen discovers she's grumpy, scary and really, really old. The Simple Things teacher reviews (pdf) Withering-by-Sea: A Stella Montgomery Intrigue Shortlisted Younger Readers. A Victorian fantasy-adventure, perfect for fans of Wildwood, Lemony Snicket and Tensy Farlow Ages: 9+ High on a cliff above the gloomy coastal town of Withering-by-Sea stands the Hotel Majestic. Withering-by-sea Teacher's notes (pdf) Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain Shortlisted Younger Readers. Bleakboy and Hunter Stand Out in the Rain - Teachers' notes (pdf) The Cleo Stories, The Necklace and the Present Shortlisted Younger Readers. Click on the Google Preview image above to read some pages of this book!

Meet Cleo, a little girl with a big imagination - a memorable character created by children's book legends Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood. Cleo desperately wants a necklace. Her parents say special presents are only for birthdays...but Cleo doesn't want to wait. The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and the Present teacher reviews (pdf) Two Wolves - Shortlisted Younger Readers. Two Wolves - Official Book Trailer. Two wolves teachers notes (pdf ) Figgy in the World Shortlisted Younger Readers. JANU, Tamsin Figgy in the World Omnibus, 2014 183pp $15.99 pbk ISBN 9781742990453 SCIS 1661104 Figgy, accompanied by her pet goat, sets off from her village in Ghana, West Africa, for America. Once she is there, she plans to visit a bank to borrow money to buy her grandmother lifesaving medicine. She does this without any understanding that she needs to know the name of the medicine and the type of illness her grandmother has and that you cannot get to America from Africa merely by walking and catching buses.

Throughout her journey, she meets a number of people, both kind and unkind, and gains a much better understanding of the world. Figgy in the World is a wonderful story about courage, naivety, family, friendship, resilience and a child’s determination. Figgy in the World Teachers'notes (pdf)