Awards Day 2023 was a blast!
Read this wonderful blog post about the event, the authors and illustrators and the books!
Australian Children's Laureate Gabrielle Wang
2023 Nominations and Term 2 News
Awards Day 2023 - Save the Date!
Thursday, 2nd November, 2023.
2022 K.O.A.L.A. Awards Day Wrap
The 2022 K.O.A.L.A. Awards Day was a wonderful time to come together (in person!) and celebrate great Australian books, authors, illustrators, and readers. Thanks for joining us – live or online!
Our amazing guest authors and illustrators from Awards Day 2022
Your nominations have been counted, and the 2022 Shortlist is here!
Did your favourites make the Shortlist? Which ones have you already read?
We’re so thrilled with the brilliant list that kids have chosen this year. Congratulations to all the Shortlisted authors and illustrators!
Shortlist 2021 Announced
Illustrating with Dub Leffler
In 2020, our online KOALA Awards ceremony featured illustrator Dub Leffler demonstrating his skill in creating beautiful illustrations. His imagination and creativity, as well as the use of interesting mediums including coffee and salt, were inspiring to see.
At the end of the ceremony, Dub revealed the completed artwork: a gorgeous tawny frogmouth owl perched on a branch. Students from Charlestown South Public School were the lucky winners of the Artwork Draw, and get to keep this incredible original illustration!
To complement this beautiful artwork, some of the students from Charlestown South have been working on their own pieces using Dub’s techniques. You can see their work below.
Why not get your students to have a go too? You can find the complete clip of Dub’s demonstration in the Members only section, to re-watch with your students. You could even create a display of Dub’s picture books in your Library and share some of these with your students for further inspiration (and maybe some ideas for KOALA nominations for 2021!), and then get illustrating.
We would love you to share your student artworks with us so we can display it online in our photo gallery.
KOALA NEWS UPDATE
Dear Friends of K.O.A.L.A.
As we head towards the end of Term 3, we thought we would let you know some exciting information about the KOALA events planned for the rest of this very unusual year.
The Shortlist Poster
Unfortunately, the shortlist poster which is usually printed by YABBA (our Victorian partners) is not being printed this year due to COVID 19 restrictions. We know that you will understand and appreciate the reasons why this has occurred. We would like to include this PDF to an electronic copy of the REAL Awards Shortlist Poster which can be printed as an A3 poster for you to display in your classroom, Library or Bookshop. It is a great way for students to check out what other kids have recommended to read.
Additionally, the four KOALA category Shortlist Posters can be found using this link: https://www.koalansw.org.au/shortlists
It’s Time to Vote – Last Week to Vote for Your Favourite Books
Get creative and set up your own display or if you are a KOALA Member please use the KOALA Shortlist Slide Presentation in the Members Resources section to heighten interest in the announcements for this year’s awards.
To generate excitement for the voting process, some schools and public libraries have been promoting the KOALA Shortlist with some wonderful displays for their students and through their newsletters.
William Clarke College Display
Richmond Tweed Regional Library Newsletter
Voting for the KOALA Awards must be submitted by Saturday September 26th.
Head to https://www.koalansw.org.au/voting to vote for your favourite titles. Votes may also be sent by spreadsheet to koalaawards@gmail.com.
A BIG shout out to all those schools who have already registered their votes. It is terrific to see so many schools getting involved in the voting process!
2020 KOALA Awards Ceremony - This Year with a Difference!
Make sure to mark Tuesday November 10th in your diary!
The KOALA committee has been hard at work contacting authors and illustrators for our online KOALA Awards Day celebration. We know you are going to be excited to see your favourites so we want to keep it a surprise. Did you ask a question for an author or illustrator at the end of the online voting? It could be included too!
Maybe you are a little sad that you can’t physically attend KOALA Awards Day 2020. We are, too. But you might like to help make the day festive as you tune in to watch on the day or at another time more suited to your school. Here are some ideas:
Usually only 20 students from each school can attend Awards Day. This year, because it’s an online event, your entire school could join in! You could view it in the school hall and/or individual classrooms for everyone to share in the excitement.
Students could make KOALA crowns/headbands to wear to the event (PDFs in Members Section)
Bunting could be hung to make the place for the Awards viewing more festive - perhaps it could say KOALA DAY AWARDS (PDFS in Members Section)
If your school would normally be buying tickets to attend Awards Day, perhaps you would be in a position to fundraise on the day. You may like to sponsor a koala or another animal, or support a community group that could use a boost, or buy some new books for your library.
Some ideas for appropriate ways to fundraise:
- Sell Caramello Koalas. Koalas, that's right!
- Sell bookmarks - perhaps colour-your-own or themed
- Have a gold coin mufti day. Or a pyjama day - who doesn’t love snuggling up with a good book in bed?
Whatever way you decide to be part of KOALA Awards Day we look forward to having you with us.
Please stay tuned for more details about the day in Term 4.
It's time to think about voting!
There are a number of ways to engage your students with the voting stage of the KOALA year. Kids love this stage and the options make it fun and exciting for all age groups.
Online - ideal for Years 3-6 who read across the categories; add the link to your website, blog, ipad shortcut; no tallying numbers
Paper and Postbox- create a point of interest in the Library; develops familiarity with both author and illustrators' names; great job for library monitors to sort and tally
Cups and Counters - heighten excitement with K-2; anonymous-secret vote! (see image)
Sticky Notes - display based voting; students place a post-it note on the cover of their favourite book; great for younger years; saves writing time; quick tally count
The Tally Sheet for non-online votes is due by the end of Term 3.
Happy voting!
Bring your sticky notes to life with these post-it designs. Go to Learning in Hand for instructions on how to print.
Mascot Menagerie
Thank you to the CBCA NSW Branch for inviting us to share a little background about our animal mascot alongside some of their favourite children’s literature organisations. You can read all about them and more in the July edition of KIDS’CORNER – Colliding with Curious Creatures.
About KOALA’s Mascot
Koalas are world famous marsupials who love to read Australian books. They hold them carefully in their five-fingered front paws. When you see a koala hidden high up in a eucalyptus tree it usually means they’re reading a bedtime story. The koala reading in our banner was created by author and illustrator, Sarah Davis. Many more bookish koalas were created by shortlisted illustrators for KOALA’s 21st and 30th birthdays. These can be found on bags, bookmarks, stickers and in the KOALA gallery.
Play the KOALA Guess Who Game - can you match the koala picture to their creator.
What does the acronym K.O.A.L.A. mean? Kids Own Australian Literature Awards
How many ways can you order the letters of the KOALA acronym so it still has a similar meaning?
e.g. Australian Literature Kids Own Awards (ALKOA)
Are there other words you could use for each KOALA letter?
e.g. Kids Own Australian Literature Association
Introducing the KOALA Awards to K-2
Here’s an activity to introduce
the children’s choice book awards
alongside the CBCA to younger students.
Engage with the shortlist
Dear Friends of KOALA,
The 2020 shortlist has been announced and can be accessed on the website. The posters and shortlist stickers will arrive in the mail for members soon.
We at K.O.A.L.A., and Australians students everywhere, send congratulations to all the shortlisted authors, illustrators and publishers for 2020.
Thank you to all the schools and students who nominated this year, we had over 8000 in NSW!
How many of your school’s nominations made the shortlist?
This term is all about reading and getting to know the shortlisted titles and their creators. So, set up your displays and get class teachers involved.
To assist you, we have curated a range of resources that you can use in your libraries and classrooms to encourage reading of the titles. There are links to teachers’ notes, interviews, book trailers, reviews, author and illustrator websites, and so much more.
There are also Kahoot quizzes to test your knowledge of the picture book shortlist and other fun ideas for encouraging your students to read.
Members can access these in the new members only resources tab on the website https://www.koalansw.org.au/members-resources.
Did you know that 85% of the shortlisted titles are also Premier’s Reading Challenge books?
Want access to all we offer and more? Then become a member in time to vote on the shortlist.
Happy reading, investigating and kahooting!
The KOALA Team
The 2020 Shortlist is announced!
It's Time to Nominate!
Dear Friends of KOALA,
You still have TWO WEEKS for your students to become involved in the nominating process for this year’s KOALA Awards. Completed nomination forms for the 2020 KOALA Awards should be sent to contact@koalansw.org or students may nominate online. All nominations are due by Friday April 3rd.
Please find below a few ideas that you can quickly implement in your Library, Library Lessons or school classrooms to help get your students involved in the nominating process for 2020. Students may nominate up to FOUR books.
If a book is to be nominated, there are FOUR criteria that the book needs to meet:
1. The book must be Australian.
2. The book must have been published since 2011.
3. The book must not be a previous winner.
4. Nominations must be for a specific title e.g. Selby Surfs not Selby series
KOALA Nominating Ideas
Use this attached Powerpoint Presentation to introduce and inform your students about the nomination process.
Set up a display of books and nomination station that you have highlighted or read to your students over the course of Term 1 to give them some suggestions of books to nominate.
Involve class teachers in the nomination process. Over the next two weeks, select and send to classrooms a few Australian authored Picture Books for teachers to read to their class. Students may want to nominate some of these titles on the nomination form sent to the classroom. Display each classes’ TOP THREE NOMINATIONS and check next term to see if they have made the Shortlist.
Have a look at your loan statistics to compile a list of Australian authors’ books that have been most borrowed over Term 1. You could even extend this list to your loan statistics from 2019. Have students nominate their favourite reads from this list.
Use the CBCA 2020 Notables Lists to build a display of books that students could read over the coming weeks in the Library and then have them choose their nominations from what they have read.
Look at previous years’ CBCA Winners and include these books in your display or for distribution to classrooms.
Print and display a list of Australian authors near your nominating station so that students can check to make sure their selection has been written by an Australian author.
Print the list of previous KOALA winners and display to assist with the nomination process.
This list of ideas is not an exhaustive one. Teacher librarians, librarians and classroom teachers all have a myriad of ideas of how to promote reading in their schools. Using the KOALA Awards Nomination Process is another launchpad to achieve this. We look forward to seeing which Australian books your students feel should be considered for the 2020 KOALA Shortlists.
Happy reading and nominating!
2019 Kahoot Book/Author Quizzes!
How well do your students know the story or the authors?
Member schools have been busy creating Kahoot quizzes for the 2019 KOALA nominated books.
Click on the title links and enjoy!
Seriously, do not open this book - Go Go and the silver shoes - Aaron Blabey - Crabbing with Dad - Mopoke - Mr Bambuckles Remarkables fight back - When I grow up - Anh Do - Hot Dog - The Fabulous Friend Machine - Pig the Star
Focus on Fiction for Older Readers
52 Mondays by Anna Ciddor
We're going to look everywhere,' said Anna.
And they did.
When Anna sets out to find the doll of her dreams, her two younger sisters are eager to help. But it's not easy. This is 1960s Australia and there's no computer or internet yet. This is a time when teachers still write with chalk, cars have no seatbelts, and Mr Whippy sells ice-cream cones for half a penny.
Anna and her sisters fill their days with fun, mischief and adventure - like the time Anna glues a block of wood to her middle sister's foot, then worries it will be stuck there forever! They celebrate birthdays and Passover together, cope with friends being mean, and feed peanuts to the bears at the zoo.
But through it all, Anna never loses sight of her dream.
Inspired by the author's real childhood, this is a warm, funny and fascinating family story
Fearless Frederic by Felice Arena
When the river rises and the city of Paris begins to disappear under water, Frederic decides to help those who can’t help themselves. But as his heroic acts escalate, so does the danger. Frederic will have to battle an escaped zoo animal and fight off pickpockets and looters but, as the waters subside, can he find justice for his father and find out what courage really means?
Fearless Frederic teaching notes from Penguin
Fearless Frederic book trailer
Felice Arena (video) talks about where he writes
Finding Serendipity by Angelica Banks
Tuesday McGillycuddy loves stories - and her mother is a writer. A very famous writer, who has locked herself away in her writing room to finish the final book in her best-selling series for children. But when Tuesday knocks on her door, she discovers her mother is missing!
In search of Serendipity, Tuesday and her faithful dog Baxterr soon find themselves on a very dangerous mission. They enter the magical world where stories come from, a mysterious and unpredictable world, full of real danger and heart-stopping adventure.
With the help of pint-sized heroine Vivienne Small, Tuesday will need all her wit, courage, perseverance and imagination in order to get to The End and be reunited with the people she loves.
Finding Serendipity teaching notes from Allen & Unwin
Funny Kid for President by Matt Stanton
Every kid wants to laugh, but Max Walburt is the boy who can make it happen. He’s the class clown, the punch line and he’s even volunteered his bottom to be the butt of the joke. Max is the funny kid … and he’s running for class president.
Poop-scandals, stalker-ducks, surprise-debates, psycho-sports-teachers, tell-all-interviews and the great-library-vomit-a-geddon are just some of the things in store for Max and his friends at Redhill Middle School this election season.
Matt Stanton’s question of the day (Video) – Why Funny Kid?
Matt Stanton reads (Video) chpt1 of Funny Kid for president
Help around the house by Morris Gleitzman
Ludo helps other people. It’s how he was brought up.
When Dad is elected to Federal Parliament, Ludo grabs the chance to make Australia an even better place.
But he soon discovers it’s not the homeless of the national capital who most need his help - it’s the rich and powerful.
Morris Gleitzman’s website (read chapter 1 for free)
Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
Morrigan Crow is cursed. Born on an unlucky day, she is blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks - and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on Eventide.
But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
It's there that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organisation: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart. Except for Morrigan, who doesn't seem to have any special talent at all.
To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests - or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.
Nevermoor teaching notes from Hachette
So Wrong 2 by Michael Wagner and Wayne Bryant
Michael Wagner and Wayne Bryant have put together book 2 in the series, and crammed it full of more: -short stories -satirical advertisements -highly suspect 'life advice' -naughty cartoons and other visual delights -and laughs on every page.
The 104-storey treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
Join Andy and Terry in their now 104-storey spectacular treehouse. They've added thirteen new levels, including a never-ending staircase, a burp bank, and even a mighty fortress. But Andy and Terry are in a race against time to find a funny story for their next book – will the tooth fairy, the two-million-dollar shop or even the riddles of the deep-thoughts thinking room be able to help?
Dymocks interview (video) with Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
Andy Griffiths (video) advertises about the 104-storey treehouse
The Forgotten Pearl by Belinda Murrell
‘Let me tell you a story. A story about friendship and sisters, about grief and love and danger, and about growing up . . .’
When Chloe visits her grandmother, she learns how close war came to destroying her family. Could Poppy’s experiences help Chloe face her own problems?
In 1941, Poppy lives in Darwin, a peaceful paradise. But when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and then Australia, everything Poppy holds dear is threatened. Terrified, she flees to Sydney – only to find that the danger follows her there. Poppy must face her war with courage and determination. Will her world ever be the same?
Belinda Murrell - The best job in the world video
KOALA 2018 Legend Award announcement
You choose alien invaders from beyond the stars by George Ivanoff
Protector of planet Earth or abduction by extraterrestrials!
You see strange lights in the sky. It’s a flying saucer, just like in the movies. Inside are lizard aliens – disguised as humans. They have come to invade planet Earth! You want to resist, but your actions may lead to the destruction of humankind . . .
Do you have what it takes to save the world? Or will the aliens unleash their ultimate weapon?
Alien invaders from beyond the stars reviewed by CKT
George Ivanoff’s (video) thank you for the 2016 K.O.A.L.A. nomination
Focus on Fiction for Years 7-9
A song only I can hear by Barry Jonsberg
Introducing Rob Fitzgerald: thirteen years old and determined to impress the new girl at school, but it's a difficult task for a super-shy kid who is prone to panic attacks that include vomiting, difficulty breathing and genuine terror that can last all day. An anonymous texter is sending Rob challenges and they might just help. Or not.
Akarnae by Lynette Noni
Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her... but he's missing.
While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora's boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can't ignore her fear that something unexpected... something sinister... is looming.
An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex's shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race's survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?
Will Alex risk her entire world—and maybe even her life—to save Medora?
Akarnae teaching notes from Pantera Press
Everything I’ve never said by Samantha Wheeler
Ava wants nothing more than to tell her family she loves them, particularly her big sister, Nic. But Ava has Rett syndrome – she can’t talk, nod her head or even point at a communication card. She understands everything, but no-one understands her. When tragedy strikes her family, Ava becomes even more determined to talk. But it’s not until she meets occupational therapist Kieran and new friend Aimee that she is hopeful for change – and to be heard at last.
Samantha Wheeler (video) reads chapter 1
Everything I’ve never said book trailer
Everything I’ve never said teaching notes from UQP
In the dark spaces by Cally Black
A genre-smashing kidnapping drama about Tamara, who's faced with an impossible choice when she falls for her captors.
Yet this is no ordinary kidnapping. Tamara has been living on a freighter in deep space, and her kidnappers are terrifying Crowpeople – the only aliens humanity has ever encountered. No-one has ever survived a Crowpeople attack, until now – and Tamara must use everything she has just to stay alive.
But survival always comes at a price, and there’s no handbook for this hostage crisis. As Tamara comes to know the Crowpeople's way of life, and the threats they face from humanity's exploration into deep space, she realises she has an impossible choice to make. Should she stay as the only human among the Crows, knowing she'll never see her family again … or inevitably betray her new community if she wants to escape?
In the dark spaces teaching notes by Pegi Williams
Maybe by Morris Gleitzman
A powerfully moving addition to Morris Gleitzman's bestselling series about Felix and Zelda which takes place in 1945, following directly on from the story told in Soon. This intensely affecting story will move readers of all ages. It will be welcomed by the many Holocaust educators who use Once, Now, Then, After and Soon to teach upper primary and lower secondary children and embraced by any reader who loves passionate, moving and brilliant stories.
Maybe teaching notes from Penguin
Take three girls by Cath Crowley
Ady - not the confident A-Lister she appears to be.
Kate - brainy boarder taking risks to pursue the music she loves.
Clem - disenchanted swim-star losing her heart to the wrong boy.
All are targeted by PSST, a toxic website that deals in gossip and lies. St Hilda's antidote to the cyber-bullying? The Year 10 Wellness program. Nice try - but sometimes all it takes is three girls.
Take three girls teaching notes from Pan Macmillan
The Build-up season by Megan Jacobson
He’s back.
The monster.
It’s the middle of the night and I’m awake, because even though I’m seventeen I still haven’t outgrown the childhood monster that haunts you in the dark. I haven’t outgrown it, because when I was a child, the monster was real.
He was my father.
Seventeen-year-old Iliad Piper is named after war and angry at the world. Growing up with a violent father and abused mother, she doesn’t know how to do relationships, family or friends. Ily takes off her armour for nobody, until she meets Jared, someone who's as complicated as she is.
The Endsister by Penni Russon
'I know what an endsister is,' says Sibbi again.
We are endsisters, Else thinks, Sibbi and I.
Bookends, oldest and youngest, with the three boys sandwiched in between.
Meet the Outhwaite children. There's teenage Else, the violinist who abandons her violin. There's nature-loving Clancy. There's the inseparable twins, Oscar-and-Finn, Finn-and-Oscar. And then there is Sibbi, the baby of the family. They all live contentedly squabbling in a cottage surrounded by trees and possums...until a letter arrives to say they have inherited the old family home in London.
Outhwaite House is full of old shadows and new possibilities. The boys quickly find their feet in London, and Else is hoping to reinvent herself. But Sibbi is misbehaving, growing thinner and paler by the day, and she won't stop talking about the mysterious endsister. Meanwhile Almost Annie and Hardly Alice, the resident ghosts, are tied to the house for reasons they have long forgotten, watching the world around them change, but never leaving.
The one thing they all agree on - the living and the dead - is never, ever to open the attic door...
The Endsister teaching tips from Allen & Unwin
The girl from Snowy River by Jackie French
The year is 1919. Thirty years have passed since the man from Snowy River made his famous ride. But World War I still casts its shadow across a valley in the heart of Australia, particularly for orphaned sixteen-year-old Flinty McAlpine, who lost a brother when the Snowy River men marched away to war.
Why has the man Flinty loves returned from the war so changed and distant? Why has her brother Andy 'gone with cattle', leaving Flinty in charge of their younger brother and sister and with the threat of eviction from the farm she loves so dearly?
A brumby muster held under the watchful eye of the legendary Clancy of the Overflow offers hope. Now Flinty must ride to save her farm, her family and the valley she loves. Set among the landscapes of the great poems of Australia, this book is a love song to the Snowy Mountains and a tribute to Australia's poets who immortalised so much of our land. the Girl from Snowy River combines passion, heartbreak, history and an enduring love and rich understanding of our land.
The girl from Snowy River sample 4 chapters
The girl from Snowy River teaching notes from Harper Collins
Jackie French talks (video) about reading, writing and being the 2015 senior of the Year
The sky so heavy by Claire Zorn
For Fin, it's just like any other day - racing for the school bus, bluffing his way through class, and trying to remain cool in front of the most sophisticated girl in his universe, Lucy. Only it's not like any other day because, on the other side of the world, nuclear missiles are being detonated.
When Fin wakes up the next morning, it’s dark, bitterly cold, and snow is falling. There’s no internet, no phone, no TV, no power, and no parents. Nothing Fin’s learned in school could have prepared him for this.
With his parents missing and dwindling food and water supplies, Fin and his younger brother Max must find a way to survive all on their own.
When things are at their most desperate, where can you go for help?
NSW Department of Education PRC 2015 interview (video)
The sky so heavy book trailer (video) – student made and winner of a competition
2019 Shortlist Category Posters
Awards Day 2019
The KOALA 2019 Awards Day celebrations will take place on Wednesday 13th November at Our Lady Of Assumption Catholic Primary School in North Strathfield, Sydney. Please email the KOALA team to express your interest in attending.
Happy New Year!
Warm wishes and thanks to all our friends and supporters. See you in 2019.
