Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction (told primarily through words) facts for kids

The Aurealis Awards are special prizes given out every year in Australia. They celebrate amazing books in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. These types of stories are often called "speculative fiction" because they imagine things that aren't real, like magic or future technology.

To win an Aurealis Award, a book must be written by an Australian author. It also needs to be published between January 1st and December 31st of the year before the awards. The awards ceremony happens the next year. What started as a small gathering has grown into a big two-day event.

Since 1995, the Aurealis Awards have recognized many different kinds of speculative fiction. There are awards for novels and short stories in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. There are also awards for young adult fiction, collections of stories, and graphic novels. Even children's books have their own special categories. Publishers like HarperCollins and Orbit support these awards. This shows how important and respected the Aurealis Awards are in the book world.

A group of judges decides who wins. They look at a long list of nominated books and then pick a shorter list of finalists. Sometimes, two books might be so good that they both win. But usually, the judges try to pick just one winner. If no book seems good enough, they can even decide not to give an award that year. The judges are chosen by the award organizers.

This article focuses on the award for the best children's fiction told mostly through words. This award started in 2001. It was first called "best children's long fiction." Later, in 2008, it became "best children's novel." Finally, in 2010, it got its current name: "best children's fiction (told primarily through words)." Sometimes, books that don't win still get special mentions. These are called "honourable mentions" or "highly commended."

Some authors have won this award more than once. Garth Nix, Lian Tanner, and Gabrielle Wang have each won twice. John Flanagan has been nominated the most times, with five nominations. This award has now joined with the award for children's fiction told through pictures. They are now one award for the best children's book.

Winners and Nominees for Children's Fiction

This section lists the books that won or were nominated for the Aurealis Award for best children's fiction. The years shown are when the books were published. The award ceremonies happened the year after.

  *   Winners and joint winners
  *   Nominees on the shortlist

Honourable Mentions and Highly Commended Novels

Sometimes, books that don't win an award still get special recognition. This section lists books that received "honourable mentions" or were "highly commended." The years are when the books were published.

  *   Highly commended
  *   Honourable mentions