All nominations are collated and the 10 books with the most nominations in each of the award categories are the shortlisted books for that year.  Students are then encouraged to read as many of these books across Term 2 and Term 3 that they can.

All this reading is leading to each student rewarding their very favourite book during the voting process in early Term 4.

Download 2013 Shortlist PDF

You can download a PDF showing the 2013 shortlist here

2013 YABBA Shortlist

Getting your head around the entire YABBA program takes a bit of time.  Knowing when nominations are due, understanding the shortlist poster use, completing the internal school paperwork to get students to the Awards ceremony.  All this takes time to think through.

The YABBA committee have helped this year.  We’ve produced this simple one page planner detailing each of the Recommend, Read, Rate and Reward stages across the year.  We’ve even provided some tips on how to actually engage students and classroom teachers with the annual program.

You can download the planner here.

YABBA – Important Dates

It is with deep sadness we hear that Mr Graham Davey the YABBA President for more than 20 years passed away on Thursday 11 April 2013 after an exhausting battle with illness. We express our most heartfelt sympathy to Graham’s family during these difficult times.

Graham worked tirelessly at promoting the Young Australians Best Book Awards with a passion and pride that will be impossible to replace. Graham accepted and delivered on an exceptional workload in ensuring that Victorian children’s voices were heard via the Annual YABBA Awards. Throughout more than 20 years as the volunteer President of YABBA, Graham was crucial to our organisation’s ongoing existence, development and its continued success.

Graham Davey will forever be regarded as a giant in the children’s book industry as a Storyteller, CBCA President and YABBA President. Most importantly Graham will be sadly missed by all those who came to know his wit, intellect and humour.

YABBA Committee

GO AWAY MR WORRYTHOUGHTS.
written by Nicky Johnston.

Colouring – Go Away Mr Worrythoughts

Select Books by Tania

Tania McCartney is an author of both children’s and adults books.

An experienced magazine writer and editor, she has written for many online sites and hard copy magazines. She also founded Kids Book Review in 2009, one of the most respected children’s literature sites on the web.

An ACT Ambassador for the National Year of Reading 2012, Tania is passionate about literacy and has spent many years, presenting and speaking to children and adults on reading, books and writing. Her latest books include Beijing Tai Tai: Life, laughter and motherhood in China’s capital (Exisle Publishing) and Australian Story: An Illustrated Timeline (National Library of Australia). In 2013, Tania will have four new books released – all of them for  children.

Tania adores books, travel, photography and marshmallows. She lives in Canberra with her husband and two kids, in a paper house at the base of a book mountain.

Visit one of Tania’s websites

TaniaMcCartney.com

Kids-BookReview.com

Author / Illustrator Questionnaire

My earliest memory is . . . my mum reading to me at bedtime. It was a daily joy.

At school I . . . was obsessed with creative writing. I still have my year 3 Creative Writing book with the doggie sticker on the front. Our teacher would reward good work with stickers – the bigger and more sparkly your sticker,
the better your work. I lived for those stickers!

I wish I had . . . taken on an internship at Woman’s Day when I was 18. A life regret.

I wish I hadn’t . . . been so scared to submit my work to publishers. I’ve been writing a very long time but have only had the courage to seriously pursue my writing these past five years. I feel like I have to make up for a lot of
lost time.

My happiest moment was . . . meeting my husband and children, of course – but from a career perspective, other than achieving book contracts!, I would say it was being asked to be an ambassador for the National Year of
Reading.

My most humiliating moment was . . . drawing a blank when asked who our first Prime Minister was. It was in front of a huge audience of kids while promoting Australian Story, and although I absolutely knew the answer, I just
went blank. The pause was only a few seconds long – but it felt like an eternity! (PS: It’s Sir Edmund Barton.)

At home I cook . . . the nightly meal most reluctantly. I prefer to bake. Brownies, cookies, scones and cupcakes are our favourites.

When I was a child, I wanted to . . . be an author + magazine editor + graphic designer + surgeon + movie star.  I’ve only achieved the first two, alas.

Some of the books I like are . . . picture books. I have a lusty obsession for them. I have over 3,000 children’s books in my house. It’s pretty crowded but I don’t mind one single bit. I also simply adore history books, historical
biography and historical fiction.

It’s not fashionable, but I love . . . calling people ‘love’. My Mum used to call us ‘love’ and when I lived in London, it was common, too.

Friends say I am . . . busy.

If only I could . . . fly. I have dreams where I can fly. I also dream I can breathe under water. Both of these would be very handy in my life, as I love to travel – and being able to fly or breath under water would mean a much cheaper (and fun!) form of transportation.

What I don’t find amusing is . . . when computers go bananas or you lose your work or the internet goes down.  Not very happy-making.

My favourite gadget is . . . my camera. I’d have a camera implanted in my forehead, if I could.

At the moment I’m reading . . . lots and lots of kids’ books for Kids Book Review. I’m also (finally!) reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and I’m about to start Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society, edited by Bill Bryson.

I often wonder . . . if I’ll live long enough to witness molecular deconstruction. I so love the idea of being ‘beamed up’. It would mean I could go for a morning swim in Tahiti, have lunch in Paris and see a show that same night in New York. How cool would that be?

Download Tania’s Profile

Tania McCartney Profile

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Selected Books by Bernadette

Bernadette Kelly grew up in country Victoria, and now lives on a country property, which she shares with three horses, Tuck, Jaspa and Cadence, a dog, Sniff, a cat, Solomina, and her now grown-up son and daughter.  In summer whole flocks of noisy cockatoos and galahs fly in to eat the gum nuts, and if you walk around you’ll see all kinds of other birds, including kookaburras, and on rare occasions you can see and hear Black Cockatoos flying overhead. Sometimes a kangaroo or an echidna drops in for a visit and a whole lot of big eared hares help the horses to eat the grass.

Bernadette likes to travel to unusual places and see the world from the back of a horse. So far she has ridden horses in Lord of the Rings country in New Zealand, suburban London, camped and rode among lions, elephants,  giraffes, wildebeests and zebras in Africa and in the wild and windswept Andes Mountains in Patagonia, Chile and Argentina.

Bernadette has written over 30 fiction and non-fiction books, including the Riding High and The Pony Patch series, which are all about her favourite animals, horses. In 2010 Bernadette was awarded a fellowship from the May  Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust. Bernadette loves visiting schools, doing workshops and talking to kids about books and writing.

Visit Bernadette’s website for additional information on his writing

BernadetteKelly.com.au

Author / Illustrator Questionnaire

My earliest memory…is helping mum to feed an orphaned wallaby that lived with us while it was young.

At school I…was banned by my grade six teacher from borrowing horse books from the school library. She said I needed to widen my reading vocabulary!

My most humiliating moment was…when I shaved off my own eyebrows in grade three.

I wish I hadn’t…shaved off my own eyebrows in grade three.

I wish I had…a time machine, so I could go back to grade three and not shave off my eyebrows.

At home I cook…a lot of Italian style dishes…especially Risotto. I love Risotto.

When I was a child I wanted to…own a stud farm and breed horses…and I wanted my eyebrows to grow back.

What I don’t find amusing is…drivers who don’t slow down for horse riders.

My favourite gadget is…my soda stream. I drink a lot of soda water.

I often wonder…what my horses are thinking.

Download Bernadette’s Profile

Bernadette Kelly Profile

Return to List of Creator Profiles