Young voices are welcome here
The home of the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s
Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards program

WATCH THE 2025 WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT NOW!
Watch the Book of the Year Awards ceremony livestream, commencing 11am, here:
Want to learn more about Shadow Judging? Watch our webinar!
Prospective facilitators can also read our program information document and facilitator guide for an overview of the program.
2025 Creative Responses
Messages on Leaves
Ocean at Peace
Holy Spirit College – Year 7 Picture Story Book AI Generated Book Cover Redesigns
Redesign the Title Page of A Leaf Called Greaf
Everything we wanted to know about the TOOTH FAIRY
If I was a Tooth Fairy I would like this as my house
Rossi Reporters Review
The Truck Cat – a fun fact!
The tree of two seasons
Ardtornish PS Room 17 Year 3/4’s are inspired artistically by ‘A Leaf called Greaf’
Always There
Year 3 Digital Book
Magpie
Title Page – A Leaf Called Greaf
The Truck Cat cover using canva
2024 Creative Responses
St Joseph’s School Tranmere Book Mechanics SA
A poem and an artwork responding to all six shortlisted books, by Bavatarini and Bianca
Norwood Secondary College
Ardtornish Primary School, Room 28, Year 5
Our Spirit Animals – Response to Every Night at Midnight
Every night at midnight response using poetry
Can you teach a fish to climb a tree
Scout and the rescue Dogs by PLC Sydney
The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart
‘Paper-flower Girl’ Create What Makes You Happy
Read It Maylands Shadow Judges
Can you Teach a Fish to climb a Tree?
6 classes of SJ for Early Childhood enjoy ‘The Concrete Garden’.
Mood boards
Mood board for Grace Notes

OverDrive is thrilled to again partner with the Shadow Judging Book of the Year program to provide a selection of digital versions of Shortlisted books to CBCA members. Students will have access to Sora to read digital versions of the available books and vote on which they would pick as their winners! Sora gives K-12 students one-tap access to ebooks, audiobooks, Read-Alongs, magazines and more on any device, at any time, using their school credentials. From assigned titles, to exportable notes and highlights, to personalised reading features and more, Sora’s dynamic features can help ignite a love for reading and learning.

StoryBox Hub is the new home of the widely celebrated resources, Story Box Library and Story Tools. Story Box Library is a subscription based educational website, created for children to view stories by local authors and illustrators, being read aloud by fantastic, predominantly Australian storytellers. Story Tools is a new story writing series that helps students in grades 3-6 master the mechanics of storytelling. We are delighted to again partner with the CBCA Shadow Judging program to help showcase the power of stories to children as tools to help us connect, engage, inspire and educate.
Young voices create conversation

The CBCA Book of the Year Awards connect young people to great literature. During CBCA Children’s Book Week® we celebrate reading for pleasure and applaud our awarded books.
Our Sun Project: Shadow Judging is an exciting addition to our annual calendar. We invite young voices from groups across Australia to join the conversation about our annual Book of the Year Shortlist and choose their own winners.
Creating a group of ‘shadowers’ is a powerful way to connect young readers with the shortlisted books in a safe space where their opinions and responses can be heard.
Interested adults, classroom teachers, teacher librarians and public librarians are invited to take on the role of group facilitators to support these young voices in this exciting program.
Willeton SHS Shadow Judges meet with CBCA Older Readers judge Maria Alessandrino




What shadowers are saying …
What is Shadow Judging?
Shadow Judging is an exciting addition to CBCA’s national annual calendar. We are inviting young voices from across Australia to join the conversation about the books on our annual CBCA Book of the Year Shortlist and choose their own winners.
Thank you to our supporters
