Storytime is one of the greatest (and easiest) things you can do to support your under-five’s learning, and although it’s tempting to stick with classics, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, there are stacks of new stories that are also very appetising!  

Your local bookshop and library are full of funny and heartfelt reads, specially written for pre-schoolers. 

It’s fun to find your faves and read the same story 10 million times (#parentlife), but if you’re looking for inspo, then any book with a Children’s Book Council of Australia gold (or silver) badge on the front is definitely worth a look! 

Each year, the CBCA chooses the very best books released for different ages, and they’ve just announced the 2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. 

This is exciting, so with a bit of a drumroll, here are some children's books that have won top honours from CBCA’s astute judges, and could win your little one's admiration as well!  

Book of the Year: Early Childhood 

WINNER: Gymnastica Fantastica! By Briony Stewart 

SHADOW JUDGING WINNER: The Concrete Garden by Bob Graham

HONOUR BOOKS: 

Grace and Mr Milligan by Caz Goodwin and Pip Kruger 

Bear & Duck are Friends by Sue DeGennaro 

Picture Book of the Year 

WINNER: Timeless by Kelly Canby 

SHADOW JUDGING WINNER: Every Night at Midnight by Peter Cheong

HONOUR BOOKS: 

Paper-flower Girl by Margrete Lamond and Mateja Jager 

That Bird Has Arms! by Kate Temple, Jol Temple, Ronojoy Ghosh and Niharika Hukku  

CBCA Award for New Illustrator 

WINNER: Hope is the Thing illustrated by Erica Wagner (and written by Johanna Bell) 

To see the award-winning books for older children, click here. 

And we give a huge congratulations to the authors, illustrators and publishing houses who’ve created these gorgeous stories. 

We hope you enjoy them at home and in the learning environment, and wish you a very entertaining Children's Book Week (which runs from 17 to 23 August in 2024)!