The shortlist for this year's Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year awards was announced today.

The shortlist for each category is:

Book of the Year: Older Readers

• Black Water (David Metzenthen, Penguin)
• The Ghost's Child (Sonya Hartnett, Viking)
• Leaving Barrumbi (Leonie Norrington, Omnibus)
• Love Like Water (Meme McDonald, A&U)
• Marty's Shadow (John Heffernan, Omnibus)
• Pharaoh: The Boy Who Conquered the Nile (Jackie French, A&R)

Book of the Year: Younger Readers

• Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp (Odo Hirsch, A&U)
• Dragon Moon (Carole Wilkinson, Black Dog Books)
• The Key to Rondo (Emily Rodda, Omnibus)
• The Shaggy Gully Times (Jackie French, illus by Bruce Whatley, A&R)
• Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!) (Sherryl Clark, illus by Elissa Christian, Puffin)
• Winning the World Cup (David Metzenthen, illus by Stephen Axelsen, Puffin)

Book of the Year: Early Childhood

• Cat (Mike Dumbleton, illus by Craig Smith, Working Title Press)
• Lucy Goosey (Margaret Wild, illus by Ann James, Little Hare Books)
• The Night Garden (Elise Hurst, ABC Books)
• Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley (Aaron Blabey, Viking)
• Shhh! Little Mouse (Pamela Allen, Viking)
• The Trouble with Dogs! (Bob Graham, Walker Books)

Picture Book of the Year

• Dust (Colin Thompson and 13 other illustrators, ABC Books)
• The Island (Armin Greder, A&U)
• The Peasant Prince (Anne Spudvilas, text by Li Cunxin, Viking)
• Requiem for a Beast (Matt Ottley, Lothian)
• You and Me: Our Place (Dee Huxley, text by Leonie Norrington, Working Title Press)
• Ziba Came on a Boat (Robert Ingpen, text by Liz Lofthouse, Viking)

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books

• The Antarctica Book: Living in the Freezer (Mark Norman, Black Dog Books)
• Australia's Deadly and Dangerous Animals (Michael Cermak, Steve Parish Publishing)
• Girl Stuff: Your Full-on Guide to the Teen Years (Kaz Cooke, Viking)
• Kokoda Track: 101 Days (Peter Macinnis, Black Dog Books)
• Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter (Carole Wilkinson, illus by Dean Jones, Black Dog Books)
• Parsley Rabbit's Book about Books (Frances Watts, illus by David Legge, ABC Books)

Crichton Award for New Illustrators

• The Crow and the Waterhole (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Fremantle Press)
• The Empty City (Jonathon Oxlade, text by David Megarrity, Lothian)
• Ock Von Fiend (Luke Edwards, Omnibus)
• Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley (Aaron Blabey, Viking)
• Santa's Aussie Holiday (Anna Walker, text by Maria Farrer, Scholastic)
• The World According to Warren (Sonia Martinez, text by Craig Silvey, Fremantle Press)

The winners of the awards will be announced on Friday August 15, at the beginning of Children's Book Week, which runs from 16 to 22 August, 2008.

Tags: childrens book council