2022 Environment Award for Children’s Literature shortlist

4 July 2022

A total of twenty-one books, in four categories, including the inaugural Karijia Award, have been named on the 2022 Environment Award for Children’s Literature shortlist, a literary award which is hosted by the Wilderness Society.

Notable among those included on the shortlist is retired Australian Football League player Adam Goodes, whose book, Somebody’s Land: Welcome to Our Country, co-written with Ellie Laing, has been named on the Karijia Award shortlist, a prize which recognises the best in First Nations storytelling for children.

Picture Fiction:

The Accidental Penguin Hotel, by Andrew Kelly, illustrated by Dean Jones
9 things to remember (and one to forget), written and illustrated by Alison Binks
Sharing, by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, illustrated by Leanne Mulgo Watson
One Potoroo: A Story of Survival, by Penny Jaye, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson
The River, by Sally Morgan, illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr
Saving Seal. The Plastic Predicament, by Diane Jackson Hill, illustrated by Craig Smith

Non-fiction:

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature, by Sami Bayly
The Australian Climate Change Book, by Polly Marsden, illustrated by Chris Nixon
The Way of the Weedy Seadragon, by Anne Morgan, illustrated by Lois Bury
The Gentle Genius of Trees, written and illustrated by Philip Bunting

Fiction:

Fish Kid and the Turtle Torpedo, written and illustrated by Kylie Howarth
Bailey Finch Takes a Stand, by Ingrid Laguna
The Good Times of Pelican Rise: Save the Joeys, by Samone Amba

The Karijia Award for Children’s Literature:

Sea Country, by Aunty Patsy Cameron, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy
Sharing, by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, illustrated by Leanne Mulgo Watson
Warna-Manda Baby Earth Walk, by Susan Betts, illustrated by Mandy Foot and Susan Betts
Wiradjuri Country, by Larry Brandy
Somebody’s Land: Welcome to Our Country, by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, illustrated by David Hardy
The Story Doctors, by Boori Monty Pryor, illustrated by Rita Sinclair
The River, by Sally Morgan, illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr
Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest, by Diane Lucas and Ben Tyler, illustrated by Emma Long

The winners will announced during Nature Book Week, which takes place from Monday 5 September 2022 through to Sunday 11 September.