Speech Pathology Australia
Book of the Year Awards 2026

Eligibility criteria for nomination

Age-related categories

To be considered for nomination, a book must meet the following requirements:

General requirements

A book may be nominated for only one of the following categories:

  • Birth to 3 years
  • 3–5 Years
  • 5–8 Years
  • 8–10 Years

  • Authorship: Written by an Australian author.
  • Availability: Readily available for purchase within Australia.
  • Publication date: Published in 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026.
  • Award history: Must not have received a Book of the Year Award in the past 3 years.
  • Retail price: Must retail for $65.00 or less.
Content and quality standards
  • Facilitates interaction and communication.
  • Appeals to children in the nominated age group.
  • Demonstrates high production quality, including:
    • professional design and layout 
    • quality graphics and illustrations 
    • durable and appropriate paper stock. 
Submission requirements
  • At nomination: Submit 2 copies of the book for shortlisting. 
  • If shortlisted: Provide 8 additional copies for judging purposes. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Book

To be considered for nomination, a book must meet the following requirements:

General requirements
  • Authorship/illustration: Written or illustrated by an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person. 
  • Availability: Readily available for purchase within Australia. 
  • Publication date: Published in 2023, 2024, 2025, or 2026. 
  • Award history: Must not have received a Book of the Year Award in the past 3 years. 
  • Retail price: Must retail for $65.00 or less. 
Content and quality standards
  • Facilitates interaction and communication. 
  • Appeals to children in the intended age group. 
  • Demonstrates high production quality, including:  
    • professional design and layout 
    • quality graphics and illustrations 
    • durable and appropriate paper stock. 
Submission requirements
  • At nomination: Submit 2 copies of the book for shortlisting. 
  • If shortlisted: Provide 8 additional copies for judging purposes. 

Decodable Book Series

To be considered for nomination, a decodable book series must meet the following requirements:

General requirements
  • Authorship: Written by Australian author(s). 
  • Availability: Readily available for purchase within Australia. 
  • Publication date: Published within the last 10 years. 
  • Award History: Must not have received a Book of the Year Award in the past 5 years. 
  • Production quality: Demonstrates high standards of design and manufacture, including:  
    • professional layout and typography 
    • quality graphics and illustrations 
    • durable and appropriate paper stock. 
Series characteristics
  • A graduated, systematically organised series of books. 
  • Aligns with a publicly available systematic synthetic phonics scope and sequence. 
  • Employs syntactically complete and “legal” sentences. 
  • Contains age-appropriate content, recognising:  
    • some series are designed for beginning readers 
    • others cater to struggling older readers. 
  • Includes illustrations that are developmentally appropriate and serve as a complement to the text, not a substitute. 
Submission requirements
  • At nomination: Submit one complete copy of the decodable book series for shortlisting and judging.