Australian Family Therapists’ Awards 2013 winners announced

4 September 2013 Books+Publishing

The winners of the 2013 Australian Family Therapists’ Awards for Children’s Literature have been announced.

The Children’s/Youth Literature Award, worth $1000, was presented to I’ll Tell You Mine by Pip Harry (UQP). The judges said the story about ‘frictions in a family’ shows parents dealing with their teenage daughter’s difficult behaviour by ‘setting appropriate consequences and maintaining strong connections’.

The Young Readers/Picture Book Award, also worth $1000, went to Violet Mackerel’s Personal Space (Anna Branford, illus by Sarah Davis, Walker Books), which the judges said presents a ‘positive’ depiction of step-parenting.

The judges also recommended a number of books as being ‘useful for therapists’. For older readers they recommended: Nobody’s Boy (Dianne Bates, Celapene Press) and Other Brother (Simon French, Walker Books). For younger readers/picture books they recommended: A Little Book about Me and My Grandma, A Little Book about Me and My Grandpa, A Little Book about Me and My Grandparents (all Jedda Robaard, The Five Mile Press), Coming Home (Sharon McGuinness, illus by Shannon Melville, Wombat Books), Pooka (Carol Chataway, illus by Nina Rycroft, Working Title Press) and Today We Have No Plans (Jane Godwin, illus by Anna Walker, Viking).

The Australian Family Therapists’ Awards for Children’s Literature are presented by the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (ANZJFT). You can see last year’s winners here. More information about the awards can be found on the ANZJFT website.

Category: Local news