The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year; the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.
Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction. The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has identified the award as an honour to be taken seriously.
The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists. Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner. The judges may declare a "no award" if there is unanimous agreement that none of the nominees are worthy. The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.
This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best children's fiction category which replaces the following two previous categories for children's fiction: Aurealis Award for best children's fiction (told primarily through words) Aurealis Award for best children's fiction (told primarily through pictures)
In 2013, this award was known as the Aurealis Award for best children's book.
Winners and nominees In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the work's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the work was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.
As of February 2026, Bren MacDibble has won twice and the following have received multiple nominations:
Lian Tanner (5) Bren MacDibble (5) Emily Rodda (4) Zana Fraillon (3 Angelica Banks (2) Anna Ciddor (2) Karen Foxlee (4) Emily Gale (2) Rebecca Lim (3) Meg McKinlay (2) Jaclyn Moriarty (2) Judith Rossell (2) Lili Wilkinson (2)
Winners and joint winners Nominees on the shortlist
YearAuthor(s)Work(s)PublisherRef * Allen & Unwin Kingdom of the Lost, book 2: Cloud Road Penguin Books Australia Refuge HarperCollins Song for a scarlet runner Allen & Unwin Rules of Summer Hachette Australia Icebreaker: The Hidden 1 Allen & Unwin * Shadow Sister: Dragonkeeper 5 Black Dog Books Slaves of Socorro: Brotherband 4 Random House Australia Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy Hot Key Books & James Foley Fremantle Press Withering-by-Sea ABC Books Sunker's Deep Allen & Unwin * Walker Books Australia Allen & Unwin Allen & Unwin Bella and the Wandering House Fremantle Press Hachette Australia * When the Lyrebird Calls Allen & Unwin Blueberry Pancakes Forever Allen & Unwin Magrit Walker Books Australia Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket Bloomsbury Hachette Australia Omnibus Books * Nevermoor Hachette Australia How to Bee Allen & Unwin Allen & Unwin HarperCollins Australia Penguin Random House Australia Accidental Heroes Allen & Unwin * Allen & Unwin Allen & Unwin Allen & Unwin Secret Guardians Allen & Unwin Ting Ting the Ghosthunter Penguin Random House Australia Ottilie Cotter and the Narroway Hunt Hardie Grant Egmont * The Dog Runner Allen & Unwin Scorch Dragons HarperCollins Race for the Red Dragon Allen & Unwin (with Sharon O'Connor, illustrator) Jinxed! the Curious Curse of Cora Bell HarperCollins (with Marc McBride, illustrator) The Glimme Scholastic The Lost Stone of SkyCity Fremantle Press *The Lost Soul AtlasLothianTricky NickPanAcross the Risen SeaAllen & UnwinThe Chicken's CurseAllen & Unwin (with Dustin Spence, illustrator)Hodgepodge: How to make a pet monsterAllen & UnwinHer Perilous MansionAllen & Unwin*Dragon SkinAllen & UnwinThe Boy Who Stepped Through TimeAllen & UnwinStellarphantFremantle & Phil LesnieThe CuriositiesHachette Australia & Nova WeetmanElsewhere GirlsTextBarebum BillyBAD DADThe Wintrish GirlUQPGus and the StarlightHarperCollins (with Frieda Chui, illustrator)The Wrath of the Woolington WymAllen & Unwin & The Raven's SongAllen & UnwinThe Goodbye YearTextMars AwakensAllen & UnwinSpellhoundAllen & UnwinThe Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-FrightAllen & UnwinGhost BookAllen & UnwinThe Letterbox TreeWalker BooksDeadlands: HuntedWalker BooksThe Hotel WitchText2024The Apprentice Witnesser Allen & UnwinAndromache Between WorldsHarperCollins, ill. Freda ChiuThe Bother with the Bonkillyknock BeastAllen & UnwinLandovelAllen & UnwinThe MidwatchHGCP, ill. Lavanya NaiduBravepaw and the Heartstone of AlluriaAlbert Street Books2025Little BonesUQPVillainScholasticMoonboyAllen & UnwinEscape from Firestone FortressRiveted PressThe Last Seed KeeperE K BooksWhen the Mountain WakesAffirm
References
External links Aurealis Awards official site