For a published work written for children and young adults in any genre.

Winner

Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner & Jonathan Bentley (Allen & Unwin)

Judges’ comments:

In an extremely strong field of texts that have all been written in a changing world, there was one title that the judges kept returning to in consideration of a winner for this category: Ella and the Ocean. Written by Lian Tanner and illustrated by Jonathan Bentley, the panel determined this utterly unique picture book to be profound and original, with language that is layered and lyrical, and images that perfectly complement its exploration of hope and holding onto dreams in times of struggle. Ella lives in a landscape “as dry as old bones” and wakes up one morning having dreamt of the ocean. As she tries to get her family to connect with this vision, she finds that it is only her gran that has kept her recollection of the world beyond their world of dust and dirt alive, and together they seek to recapture this experience for the whole family. The book’s message of belief in tough times, masterfully written by a Tasmanian storyteller at the top of her game, is resonant and captivating, whilst also being perfectly complemented by illustrations that utilise perspective, colour and expression in a way that brings Ella’s imagination to astonishing life on the page. It is the contention of the judging panel for this award that Ella and the Ocean undoubtedly represents a benchmark of excellence in recent Tasmanian writing for children and young people.

• Aster's Good, Right Things by Kate Gordon (Yellow Brick Books)
• Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner, illustrated by Jonathan Bentley (Allen & Unwin)
• Sea Country by Aunty Patsy Cameron, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy (Magabala Books)
• Shoestring: The Boy Who Walks on Air by Julie Hunt, illustrated by Dale Newman (Allen & Unwin)

Judges’ comments on the shortlist

This year’s shortlist for the Minister for the Arts’ Prize for Books for Young Readers and Children represents the breadth of forms, genres, and audiences in Tasmanian children’s writing, demonstrating that the power of language and complexity in a literary work is by no means restricted to texts composed for adults. In an extremely competitive field, all the authors and illustrators for this category should be congratulated on the high quality of the work that they offer young Tasmanians.

The judges’ chosen picture books, Sea Country by Aunty Patsy Cameron and Ella and the Ocean by Lian Tanner, both utilise powerful interconnection of word and image to transport their readers into explorations of deep connections with landscape and country. Julie Hunt’s Shoestring: The Boy Who Walks on Air is an illustrated novel that takes readers on a fantastical thrill-ride, filled with magic and mayhem, while Aster’s Good, Right Things by Kate Gordon explores a vital theme for our time: how do we embrace difference and try to do good in the world?

The judging panel for the award are confident that the shortlist for this award clearly represents the exemplary calibre of Tasmanian writing for young people, which is world-class in every aspect and to be commended to readers of all ages. The shortlist was selected with an eye to a number of elements of quality, but the factor considered above all others was the power of the authors’ storytelling to touch both the mind and heart of the reader in a profound way. The four books nominated were unanimously considered by the judges to have this quality in abundance.

• Aussie Kids: Meet Dooley on the Farm by Sally Odgers, illustrated by Christina Booth (Penguin Random House Australia)
• Child of Galaxies by Blake Nuto, illustrated by Charlotte Ager (Flying Eye Books)
• Invisibly Grace by Avery McDougall (Forty South Publishing)
• Now and Then by Fiona Levings (Forty South Publishing)
• One Careless Night by Christina Booth (Walker Books Australia)
• The Carbon-Neutral Adventures of the Indefatigable EnviroTeens by First Dog on the Moon (Allen & Unwin)

Judges’ comments on the longlist

The entries in this category were of an extremely high quality overall, with exemplary literary works ranging in scope from early childhood picture books to young adult novels, representing a broad spectrum of both accomplished and emerging writers and illustrators. The texts selected for the longlist by the judging team were celebrated for their emotional resonance, their complexity of themes, their sense of style and voice, their diversity, and the way each revelled in and celebrated the power of word and image.