The Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year shortlist was announced recently at Government House in Melbourne.

A new initiative this year,  the CBCA JUNIOR JUDGES PROJECT - a similiar scheme to the Carnegie and Greenaway shadowing process - is designed to encourage children to judge the short list based ont he criteria used by the CBCA judges.

The winners will be announced in August.  Full information from the Children's Book Council of Australia Website http://www.cbc.org.au/short07.htm#early

Details of the shortlisted books below:

OLDER READERS

  Don't Call me Ishmael by Michael Bauer

Ishmael is low in self esteem, hates his name and has no personal confidence which makes him the target of bullies at school. Despite his fears he finds the courage to stand up and support his friends. Full of humour and wisdom, Ishmael and his intrepid band of misfits have the worst- and the best - year of their lives. A great story of growing up and finding life.

Monster Blood Tattoo by D M Cornish

Rossamund has always dreamed of a career in the Navy, fighting tentacled monsters and rescuing damsels from hook-handed pirates. But fate has chosen him for a different path. He is being sent to train as a Lamplighter - to bring light to the inland roads of the Half-Continent, to shine the way for travellers through lands peopled by outcasts, monsters and worse. But for Rossamund to begin his education, he must first undertake a journey of his own: to the great city of High Vesting. Such a road is not for the faint of heart. Only monster-hunters, leers and the most desperate of brigands dare travel the inland ways unguarded. And all Rossamund carries with him is a battered almanac and a pocketful of cheap potions. It is unlikely to be enough. Stunning in scope and rich in detail, alive with memorable heroes and villains and brimming with new and original science and magics, D.M. Cornish's tale of scolds, scourges, smugglers and shrewds will thrill and captivate, and leave the reader desperate for more.

My Big Birkett by Lisa Shanahan

Gemma's older sister, Debbie, is getting married and Gemma is not impressed at the propsect of being flower girl at the age of 14. She is also distracted by her own boy-girl dramas when she, auditions for the school play. If Gemma is to shine in her role as Miranda, she must overcome her phobia of the public spotlight and inner feelings.

One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke

Lily seems like the only sensible one in her freakish family. Her brother Lonnie keeps dropping in and out of courses, her mother works too hard and her Nan has an imaginary friend.

Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan

Margo Lanagan's electrifying stories are for anyone who loves to be surprised, touched, unsettled and dazzled by what a great writer can do in just a few pages.

The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky

From one of Australia's finest writers for young people comes this evocative novel juxtaposing the inner life of three girls, the undercurrents of their parents' marriage and the political dramas of the adult world.

YOUNGER READERS

Being Bee by Catherine Bateson

This heart-warming story about love, friendship, vulnerability, openness and truth will resonate with readers, especially girls. Bateson explores the fears and difficulties experienced by people with mental illness and those who love them as well as the universal themes of acceptance and identity. Since the death of her mother, Bee and her father and Bee's two guinea pigs have lived comfortably together. Then Dad introduces his girlfriend Jazzi to the household and Bee's predictable world changes. She reveals her fears and feelings about her changing circumstances in letters to her pets. One day Bee learns that Jazzi has secrets too. She has a brother who no one knows about because he has an intellectual disability. Together Jazzi and Bee visit Harley and Bee begins to understand that there is more to Jazzi than meets the eye.

The Tuckshop Kid by Pat Flynn, Tom Jellett (illus.)

Hungry? Need Lunch? Mum's packed you curried banana and pickle sandwiches again? Only got a $1.25 to your name? Then you need to see Matt, because Matt has an amazing talent. Some kids are good at footy, or handball, or tennis. Not Matt, though. Matt is an expert at Tuckshop. ($1.25 = sausage roll and small choc milk, by the way . . . ) In the dog-eat-pie world of the playground, when your best friend is the lunch lady, and hunger can be just around the corner, someone like Matt can go a long way. But of course, being the best at anything does have its problems. Even tuckshop.

The Cat on the Mat is Flat by Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton (illus.)

How did the cat on the mat get flat? Why did Ed and Ted and Ted's dog Fred get spat out of the head of a whale called Ned? Where was Harry Black when Jack the Yak stole the snack from his sack? What happened to Buck the Duck's brand new muck-sucking truck? Who else, apart from Andy G and Terry D, was chased up a tree by an evil bee? The answers to these stupid questions and many other stupid questions-are contained in this deeply stupid book...Well, what are you waiting for? Open the book and start reading!

Macbeth and Son by Jackie French

Luke lives in modern-day Australia with his mother and stepfather, Sam. Luke is burdened by a guilty secret: Sam has helped him to cheat in an entrance exam for a prestigious school. Lulach lives in eleventh-century Scotland with his mother and stepfather, Macbeth, who becomes a great king and restores peace to the land. Luke is studying Shakespeare’s play Macbeth at school and dreams about Lulach and Macbeth at night. But gradually Luke realises they are more than dreams. Somehow, he is reliving events that actually took place – and they’re nothing like Shakespeare’s version. In the play, Macbeth is a villain who murders the rightful king. Why did Shakespeare lie about who Macbeth really was? Does truth really matter? As the lives of Luke and Lulach intertwine, the answers to these questions will change them both forever

Bird and Sugar Boy by Sofie Laguna

Sugar boy gave me the name Bird, otherwise I'm James Burdell. I live with my dad who has a big tattoo that says Live to Ride. He is so strong he can lift up a car, but he can't tell me what he's thinking. Maybe he's thinking about my mother who shot through. Sugar Boy is my best friend. We hang around down at the river, in the bush tunnel, or beside the railway tracks riding our bikes fast enough to beat the train. There's only two of us, but we're the whole team. I don't know what would happen if I didn't have Sugar Boy . . .

Layla, Queen of Hearts by Glenda Millard, Stephen Michael King (illus.)

A friend like Layla comes along once in a lifetime, and Griffin Silk knows this with all his heart. Griffin's daddy used to say that Layla had been sent to comfort them after Tishkin went away; ‘like an arm about their shoulders, a candle in the dark or like golden syrup dumplings for the soul’. When Senior Citizen’s Day is announced at school, Layla wishes for someone special to take. It is then that the intriguing Miss Amelie comes into their life. Through their new friendship, Layla and Griffin learn the importance of memories, generosity of spirit, and of small miracles that warm the heart.