Llamas in the Library and Other Tales

  I recently watched the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2025 Book of the Year Awards as a professional development activity (Children’s Book Council of Australia, 2025) .  I had a minimal understanding of the influence of literary prizes in libraries, but viewing the awards ceremony, alongside broader research, revealed a tension between literary experts' determination of merit and the inclusion of children in determining what makes a book prize-worthy. One surprise was the role of children as shadow judges : reading and evaluating shortlisted titles through reviews, book trailers, and tactile projects, promoting literacy and lifelong learning through inclusion and agency. I applaud the inclusion of children as contributors to the event and the support provided to help them critically judge the books and voice their opinions (Erskine & Nicoll-Hatton, 2023). Willeton SHS Shadow Judges meet with CBCA Older Readers judge Maria Alessandrino ( CBCA, 2024) Beyond this...

     Children's and young adult literature is at the heart of the censorship debate in Australia. To engage with this debate and to understand what might constitute controversial content, I undertook a professional development activity: reading a banned book.  Graceling  by Kristin Cashore is a novel included in the 2025 Banned Books Index by PEN America (2025). I extended this by reading the sequels,  Fire  and  Bitterblue , and by researching current professional and media discussions for alternatives to censorship (Cashore, 2026). Cashore, 2026 I found Graceling to be an engaging text that addressed challenging themes without explicit description. Although banned for content such “sexual assault, trauma, dark comedy, a villain who tortures and attempts to molest his stepdaughter, and feminist themes,” I found the content in the given context given appropriate for a young adult (YA) audience ( BostonPL_JordanD,   2025). In contrast, Bitter...