The Wilderness Society’s 2026 shortlist for the Karajia and Environment Awards for Children’s Literature honours stories that bring nature to the centre of the page. From science and place-based learning to cultural knowledge and storytelling rooted in Country, the shortlisted books show us how stories can open up the natural world in ways that are both imaginative and enduring.

As the natural world recedes from many children’s daily lives, the awards stand as a reminder: the stories that we give children today will help shape the future they choose to protect.

The 2026 shortlisted children’s books are a rare celebration in Australian children’s literature, reflecting the breadth and vitality of contemporary Australian children’s literature. From sweeping coastal journeys and river stories to First Nations cultural narratives and playful scientific discovery, the 2026 shortlist showcases the extraordinary range of children’s books helping young readers understand and connect with the world around them.

This year’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature shortlist includes works such as Find Me on the Coast by Jess McGeachin, Creature Corridors by Billie Rooney and Anke Noack, One Koala, One Hundred Trees by Leesa Allinson, Heather Potter and Mark Jackson, Save the Gumtrees by Luke John Matthew Arnold, Ningaloo by Tim Winton and Cindy Lane, and the delightfully curious Wombat Poos Are Square by Sophie Gillies and Karen Erasmus—each offering young readers a different lens into the natural systems, creatures and landscapes that shape the rhythms of everyday life and reveal how deeply everything is connected.

The Karajia Award for Children’s Literature shortlist features powerful First Nations storytelling, highlighting books that speak to young readers, including A Good Kind of Trouble, Brooke Blurton and Melanie Saward, Prayer for a River by Uncle Glenn Loughrey and Andrew Kelly, and How Big is Love? by Carl Merrison. Animals on Country by Victor and Sandra Steffensen and Spirit of the Crocodile by Aaron Fa’Aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White—both shortlisted across the two awards—are stories that carry deep cultural knowledge of Country, language and connection across generations.

Jen Martin, Nature Book Week Ambassador said:  “For over three decades, the Wilderness Society’s Karajia and Environment Awards for Children’s Literature have celebrated stories that invite children into the living world around them—awakening care for nature and deepening connection to Country, culture, and place.

“Stories shape how children understand the world. They connect us to landscapes, to wildlife, and to the intricate living systems that sustain us.

“At a time when children are spending more time indoors and less time immersed in nature, these awards recognise the storytellers helping bridge that gap, through books that bring the living world vividly to life, and remind us that we are part of it.”

The Environment Award for Children’s Literature, established in 1994 by environmental educators working in partnership with the Wilderness Society, continues to champion stories that inspire curiosity, care and wonder for the living world. This year’s judging panel includes John Williamson who brings a uniquely Australian voice to the judging panel, drawing on a lifelong connection to storytelling, landscape and the natural world through his celebrated music career, Kristin Darell—writer, educator and scientist, whose work explores the world around her, and Linden Ashcroft—an Australian climate scientist and science communicator whose work focuses  on making complex climate issues more accessible.

Alongside it, the Karajia Award for Children’s Literature honours First Nations storytelling that carries knowledge of Country, culture, language and community. This year’s judging panel includes Aunty Munya Andrews, journalist Marlee Silva, and Australian television presenter, educator, and advocate Shelley Ware.

Past winners include Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing, David Hardy, Aunty Fay Muir, Sue Lawson, Leanne Mulgo Watson, Victor and Sandra Steffensen,  Claire Saxby, Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation, and Cassy Polimeni.

The winners of the book awards will be announced during the Wilderness Society’s Nature Book Week 10–18 October 2026 More information about all shortlisted Karajia and Environment Awards for Children’s Literature books is available on the Wilderness Society website.

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