New Illustrators

WINNER New Illustrators 2023

April thinks if her town was a colour, it would be grey. Everyone is too busy to stop and look around. How can she help them slow down? When she remembers the happiness that dandelions brought her grandmother, April comes up with a plan... Bursting with colour, this is a sweet story about flowers, family and the wonders children wish for.

It's the night before the Book Week parade and Ellie announces that she needs a costume by the morning. Mum, who is taken by surprise, desperately tries to piece together a costume from what's lying around the house ...
Audience: Ages 5 to 7

Look closer, look with care, And you may find a forest... Among the steel and stone canyons of the city, nature flourishes in tiny, tenacious ways. Follow our tiny friend to discover, celebrate and connect with the urban flora and fauna hiding in plain sight.
Audience: Early childhood

Archie has found the best hiding place. But after a while, it feels too quiet. Is the game still on? Has Archie been forgotten? A rich and atmospheric story that captures the highs and lows of hide-and-seek, and the joy of being found.
Audience: Early childhood

Wake up with kookaburras on Arakwal Country (Byron Bay), bask with wombats on wulinantikala (Cradle Mountain), watch black and red cockatoos flying over Anangu Country, scratch the Daintree Rainforest floor with cassowaries on Kuku Yalanji Country, and go to sleep as quokkas wake up on Whadjuk Noongar Country (Rottnest Island).
Audience: Ages 3+

For those born in Australia, it's easy to take citizenship and its responsibilities for granted. But there is much more to being an Australian citizen than having a passport and the right to vote.
Audience: Primary

WINNER New Illustrators 2022

When Zimdalamashkermishkada starts a new school, he knows he's got to do something about his long name. When no amount of shrinking, folding or crumpling works, he simply settles for Zim - but deep down, it doesn't feel right. It's not until a new friend sees him for who he truly is that Zimdalamashkermishkada finds the confidence to step boldly into his long name.
Audience: Preschool

Follow a female shark on her way to warmer waters to give her pups the best chance of survival.
Audience: Ages 5 to 8

Walk with us through one of the Top End's magnificent monsoon forests, in Kakadu National Park, learning about the plants, animals and Kundjeyhmi culture along the way. Language in English with some Kundjeyhmi words.
Audience: Ages 5 to 7

A children's book that explores all the amazing things that happen inside a children's hospital and gives thanks to the many hardworking people that help keep us safe and well.
Audience: Ages 3 to 7

A collection of 15 short stories about kind, brave, clever and curious characters of all ages from around the world. Isla sails the high seas, Vivienne takes care of bees, Izzy is good at fixing cars, Farah loves gazing at stars...
Audience: For children

A story of a father who teaches his daughter that just as beauty is an expression of love, even the most painful occasions invite us to experience the full power love has to offer.
Audience: For children

Scholastic Australia, 2020

Audience: Ages 4+

This lamp is enchanted and I am the genie. I'll grant all your wishes, but don't be a meanie... When a friendly frog, a greedy rabbit and a robot with a short fuse discover a magic lamp, chaos follows...and friendship is found.

Sydney Lothian Children's Books, 2020

Audience: Ages 3+

There was a child, The sweetest ever, Until she learned these words: 'NO! NEVER!' Georgie is a sweet little girl who always makes her parents happy... until she discovers one powerful phrase: No! Never! It suddenly becomes her answer to every request, from tidying up her toys to going to bed. Her parents are at their wits end, but what happens when they decide to try saying No! Never! themselves? A lovely, lively look at the Terrible Twos (or Threes, or Fours, or Fives...)

Thames & Hudson Australia, 2020


WINNER New Illustrators 2021

Audience: Ages 3 to 5

This Small Blue Dot features a little girl explaining the world to her baby sister. She hits on small wonders, big lessons, and everything in between, from sharing the joy of silly dances to contemplating the nature of this "small blue dot" we all live on.

Starfish Bay Publishing, 2020

Audience: Ages 5 to 8

Bryce McFee is an ordinary boy bored with washing the flea-ridden family dog. So, he escapes to his imagination and flies across the backyard with a dandelion and seven bees. Trouble strikes when a swarm of pesky fleas gives chase, threatening to ruin his adventure. Ultimately, an unlikely friendship is formed between the flying boy and the flea.

Magabala Books, 2020

Audience: Ages 4+

Told in English and Gija, this is the story of Shirley Purdie, famous Gija artist, as told through her paintings, as part of the Ngaalim-Ngalimboorro Ngagenybe exhibition created for the 2018 National Portrait Gallery exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history.

EK Books, 2020

Audience:Ages 4 to 10

Worry Monster loves "helping" Archie worry, especially the night before he starts his new school. Archie feels so anxious that his head hurts, his tummy flutters and his heart pounds. He soon realizes the only way to feel better is to make Worry Monster go away. He does his belly breaths and faces facts to challenge his inner fears.

Magabala Books, 2019

WINNER New Illustrators 2020

Audience: Ages 3 to 6

Baby Business tells the story of the baby smoking ceremony that welcomes baby to country. The smoke is a blessing -- it will protect the baby and remind them that they belong. This beautiful ritual is recounted in a way young children will completely relate to.

Berbay Publishing, 2019

Audience: For children

Louie and his trusty companion, Snippy the dog, dive into the ocean and are surrounded by brilliant coral reefs. But they soon discover that human rubbish - bottles, plastic straws and plastic bags - have trapped fish and other creatures. What will Louie be inspired to do?

Dirt Lane Press, 2019

Audience: For children

Paperboy is a journey through the salient moments of a young boýs life the fears, the trials, the tragedies and the small triumphs with each moment contemplated in terms of paper. Tissue paper that tears too readily, fly paper to which nasty things adhere, folded paper with which to create hope.

Penguin Books Australia, 2019

Audience: Ages 3 to 5

Lucy had always been good at fixing things, and Dad needed a bit of help. It was just the two of them after all.
So when Lucy finds a bird with a broken wing, she's sure she can fix him too. But not everything that's broken can be fixed.

Magabala Books, 2019

Audience: Ages 5 to 12

Greeted by Mulgo, the black swan, readers are welcomed to Nura. Journeying through the seasons, Mulgo describes the land, skyscape, birds, animals and totems. It is a gentle guide to how Darug people read the seasons, knowing when it is time to hunt and time to rest. It is also an appeal to remember, offering new ways of seeing and reading the lands of the surrounding Sydney region.

Magabala Books, 2019

Audience: For children

A simple, universal story of a day in the life of Little Bird as she sings the world alive, flies with Cloud, travels with Wind, nestles with Moon and dreams of flying among the stars. Sally Morgan's beautiful words and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr's sensitive artwork combine to make this a beautiful, distinctive publication with global appeal. Johnny infuses his illustrations with his fine-art aesthetic, his traditional motifs and a quirky sense of humour.

Brunswick, Victoria : Scribble Kid's Books, 2018

WINNER New Illustrators 2019

Audience: Preschool

On an ordinary day, in an even more ordinary town, it was Albert's birthday. When Grandma Z roars into town on her motorcycle, Albert is swept up in a very extraordinary adventure. This book is filled with wonder, imagination, and a wild, magical spirit that will thrill young and old.

Prahran, Victoria: Hardie Grant Egmont, 2018

Audience: Ages 3+

It took millions of years of isolation and a diverse range of habitats for Australian birds to evolve the way they did. The result is many of the world’s most striking and beautiful birds, including some that are stranger than fiction. In Australian Birds, acclaimed artist Matt Chun showcases 16 remarkable species that have captured the imagination of the world. From the iconic cockatoo, to the endangered Cassowary, Australian Birds has been carefully curated to inform and entrance readers of all ages.

South Melbourne: Affirm Press, 2018

Meet Florence, a flamboyant fur seal who lives on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. Unlike the other seals, Florence has plans. Big plans. She's going to be a world-famous singer. But does Florence have what it takes to become a real SEALPRANO? Based on a true story, The Singing Seal is for anyone who has ever felt small but dreamt BIG!

St. Glebe, NSW: Little Steps Publishing

Carmichael the Carnaby's Black Cockatoo has made his first flight out of the nest and joined his parents on the long journey to their coastal feeding grounds. But when they return, they find out their home has been destroyed.
What will they do? And, more importantly, what can we all do to help?

South Melbourne, VIC : Affirm Press, 2018

Audience: For infants

This title introduces children to colours through rhyme and repetition.

Newtown, N.S.W. : Walker Books, 2018

Audience: Junior primary school age

Can you see her? There, deep in the stretching shadows, a dingo. Her pointed ears twitch. Her tawny eyes flash in the low-slung sun. Dingo listens. Dusk is a busy time. Dusk is the time for hunting.