Deborah Abela makes CBCA notables 2025

Congratulations to author Deborah Abela on making the

2025 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Younger Readers Notables

for The Kindness Project

a paperback middle grade fiction for ages 8-12, published by Penguin Random House Australia

May 2024

Four kids are given a class project to make the world a better place... the trouble is, they don’t like each other… until they realise they have lots in common and band together when one of them needs help.

This is Deb's first verse novel and not only did she get to play with the narrative but also with font, form and layout to tell the story. Perfect for reluctant readers and readers moving from junior fiction to middle grade.

Congratulations Deb, what an outstanding achievement - kindness deserves this commendation!

Emerging SA Literary Fellowship for Kate Marie Lewis

Congratulations to author and illustrator Kate Marie Lewis on being awarded an

Emerging SA Literary Fellowship

She was awarded one of the two Emerging SA Literary Fellowships by Writers SA and the State Library of South Australia to research, write and illustrate her narrative nonfiction picture book about grey headed flying foxes.

Finalist Bologna Children's Book Fair for Marjorie Crosby-Fairall

Congratulations to illustrator Marjorie Crosby-Fairall for being chosen as a Finalist for the Bologna Book Fair 2025 Illustrators Exhibition.

The Bologna Children's Book Fair has been working for over 60 years to discover new trends and rising talents in global illustration.

This year, 4,374 illustrators entered for the Illustrators Exhibition 2025, with a total of 21,870 submissions coming from 89 countries and regions.

To determine the winners, the international jury shortlisted 324 finalist artists.

Marjorie’s illustration submission was a sequence of illustrations from her upcoming picture book Emmie Builds Something New. The book will be her debut as both author and illustrator and will be published in 2025.