Aurealis Award for Best Children's Fiction (told primarily through words) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aurealis Award for best children's fiction (told primarily through words) |
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Presented by | Chimaera Publications, Conflux Inc |
Country | Australia |
First awarded | 2001 |
The Aurealis Awards are special awards given out every year in Australia. They celebrate amazing Australian writers who create stories in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. These types of stories are called "speculative fiction" because they imagine things that aren't real, like magic or future technology.
To be considered for an award, a book must be written by an Australian citizen or someone living permanently in Australia. The book also needs to have been published between January 1 and December 31 of the year before the awards. The awards ceremony happens the next year. What started as a small gathering of about 20 people has grown into a big two-day event with over 200 attendees!
Since they began in 1995, the Aurealis Awards have recognized many different kinds of speculative fiction. There are awards for science fiction, fantasy, and horror. There are also special awards for young adult fiction, which means books for teens. These awards even have separate prizes for longer books (novels) and shorter stories. Other categories include collections of stories, anthologies (books with stories by different authors), graphic novels, and children's books. There's even an award for overall excellence in speculative fiction.
Publishers really pay attention to these awards. They see them as a way to show which science fiction and fantasy books are the best. Big publishers like HarperCollins and Orbit support the awards. This shows that winning an Aurealis Award is a serious honor for writers.
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How the Winners Are Chosen
A group of judges decides who wins the awards. First, they get a long list of nominated books. Then, they narrow it down to a shorter list of finalists. Sometimes, if two books are equally good, the judges might pick both as winners. However, they usually try to choose just one winner. If the judges all agree that none of the nominated books are good enough, they can choose "no award" for that year. The judges themselves are chosen from people who apply for the job.
About This Award Category
This article focuses on the "best children's fiction (told primarily through words)" award. This means books for kids that are mostly stories, not pictures. This award started in 2001. Back then, it was called "best children's long fiction." There was also a separate award for children's short fiction.
In 2008, the award changed its name to "best children's novel." Then, in 2010, it was renamed again to "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 best children's fiction (told primarily through pictures). Together, they are now just one award: best children's book.
Winners and Nominees for Children's Fiction
This section lists all the books that were nominated and won the award. The years show when the book was published and eligible for the award. The award ceremony always happens the next year.
In the table below: * Winners and joint winners * Nominees on the shortlist
Year | Author(s) | Work(s) | Publisher | Ref |
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2001 | Sally Odgers* | Candle Iron | Angus & Robertson | |
Kirsty Murray | Market Blues | Allen & Unwin | ||
Michael Stephens | Blat Magic | Angus & Robertson | ||
2002 | Gabrielle Wang* | In the Garden of Empress Cassia | Puffin Books | |
Justin D’Ath | Astrid Spark, Fixologist | Allen & Unwin | ||
Catherine Jinks | Eglantine | Allen & Unwin | ||
Dave Luckett | Rhianna and the Dogs of Iron | Scholastic | ||
Natalie Jane Prior | Lily Quench and the Treasure of Mote Ely | Hodder Headline | ||
2003 | Garth Nix* | Mister Monday | Allen & Unwin | |
Deborah Abela | Max Remy Superspy: The Hollywood Mission | Random House | ||
Catherine Jinks | Eustace | Allen & Unwin | ||
James Valentine | Jumpman Rule 2 | Random House | ||
Carole Wilkinson | Dragonkeeper | Black Dog Books | ||
2004 | Colin Thompson* | How to Live Forever | Random House | |
John Flanagan | The Ruins of Gorlan | Random House | ||
Cassandra Golds | Claire de Lune | Penguin Books | ||
Sophie Masson | Snow, Fire, Sword | Random House | ||
Gabrielle Wang | The Pearl of Tiger Bay | Penguin Books | ||
2005 | Garth Nix* | Drowned Wednesday | Allen & Unwin | |
Isobelle Carmody | Little Fur | Penguin Books | ||
Morris Gleitzman | Worm Story | Penguin Books | ||
Richard Harland | Sassycat: The Night of the Dead | Omnibus Books | ||
2006 | Mardi McConnochie* | Melissa, Queen of Evil | Pan Macmillan | |
Isobelle Carmody | A Fox Called Sorrow | Viking Press | ||
John Flanagan | Oakleaf Bearers | Random House | ||
Nury Vittachi | Twilight in the Land of Nowhen | Allen & Unwin | ||
Kim Wilkins | The Sunken Kingdom Quartet | Omnibus Books | ||
2007 | Kate Forsyth* | The Silver Horse, The Herb of Grace, The Cat’s Eye Shell, The Lightning Bolt, The Butterfly in Amber | Pan Macmillan | |
Isobelle Carmody | A Mystery of Wolves | Penguin Books | ||
Emily Rodda | The Key to Rondo | Omnibus Books | ||
Carole Wilkinson | Dragon Moon | Black Dog Books | ||
2008 | Emily Rodda* | The Wizard of Rondo | Omnibus Books | |
Simon Higgins | Moonshadow | Random House | ||
Sophie Masson | Thomas Trew and the Island of Ghosts | Hodder Children's | ||
Carole Wilkinson | Dragon Dawn | Black Dog Books | ||
Sean Williams | The Changeling and The Dust Devils | Angus & Robertson | ||
2009 | Gabrielle Wang* | A Ghost in My Suitcase | Puffin Books | |
Deborah Abela | The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen | Random House | ||
Kate Constable | Cicada Summer | Allen & Unwin | ||
Jen Storer | Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children | Viking Press | ||
2010 | Lian Tanner | The Keepers | Allen & Unwin | |
Deborah Abela | Grimsdon | Random House | ||
John Flanagan | Halt's Peril | Random House | ||
Stephen M. Giles | The Vultures of Somerset | Pan Macmillan | ||
Jen Storer & Gus Gordon | Haggis McGregor and the Night of the Skull Moon | Penguin Books | ||
2011 | Lian Tanner* | City of Lies | Allen & Unwin | |
John Flanagan | The Outcasts | Random House | ||
Catherine Jinks | The Paradise Trap | Allen & Unwin | ||
Thalia Kalkapsakis | "It Began With a Tingle" | Allen & Unwin (Headspinners) | ||
Andrew McGahan | The Coming of the Whirlpool | Allen & Unwin | ||
2012 | John Flanagan* | Brotherband: The Hunters | Random House Australia | |
Pamela Freeman | Princess Betony and the Unicorn | Walker Books | ||
Emily Rodda | The Silver Door | Scholastic | ||
Leah Swann | Irina the Wolf Queen | Xoum Publishing |
Honourable Mentions and Highly Commended Novels
Sometimes, books don't win the main award but are still recognized for being excellent. This section lists those books. The years show when the book was published.
In the table below: * Highly commended (meaning they were strongly praised) * Honourable mentions (meaning they were noted as worthy)
Year | Author | Novel | Publisher | Ref |
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2001 | Janeen Webb | Sailing to Atlantis | Angus & Robertson | |
2004 | James Moloney | Tunnel of Ferdinand | HarperCollins | |
2005 | Carole Wilkinson | Garden of the Purple Dragon | Black Dog Books | |
John Flanagan | The Icebound Land | Random House | ||
2007 | Alexandra Adornetto | The Shadow Thief | HarperCollins |