Awards Day 2013

KOALA Awards Day 2013 from mthomson

The 2013 Awards Ceremony was held at The Old Boys Lecture Theatre in The Rae Centre at Newington College, Stanmore on Wednesday 30th October.

Fourteen schools attended the awards:

Austinmer Public School; Bringelly Public School; Helensburgh Public School; Holroyd High School; Holy Saviour School Geenacre; Holy Spirit College Bellambi; Middleton Grange Public School; Mount Annan Christian College; Newington Wyvern House; Newtown Public School; Old Guilford Public School; PLC Sydney Junior; Stanmore public School; The King’s School.

Bruce Whatley was our Illustrator in Residence, painting a beautiful illustration as we watched, which was taken home by one lucky school.

Bruce Whatley's artwork created during 2013 Awards Ceremony

Other authors and illustrators present were:

Felice Arena, Duncan Ball, Morris Gleitzman, Chris Morphew, Belinda Murrell, Oliver Phommavanh, and Emily Rodda.

Felice Arena was chosen as the KOALA Legend for 2013. He is a dedicated and prolific writer for young readers. His books are accessible, exciting and fun for kids. He writes series that just keep kids reading. His frequent visits to schools inspire even reluctant readers to give reading a go. And kids nominate his books as among their favourites. Felice Arena is a children's choice and a legend! Read the full citation and look back at earlier years on the Legends Page.

Category Winners and Honour Books:

Picture Books

WINNER: The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland (Scholastic)

HONOUR BOOKS: Ella Kazoo Will Not Brush Her Hair by Lee Fox and Cathy Wilcox (Lothian) AND The Little Refugee by Anh & Suzanne Do and Bruce Whatley (Allen & Unwin)

Fiction for Younger readers

WINNER: The Golden Door by Emily Rodda (Scholastic Omnibus)

HONOUR BOOKS: Alice-Miranda Shows the Way by Jacqueline Harvey (Random House) AND Pizza Cake by Morris Gleitzman (Penguin)

Fiction for Older readers

WINNER: 26-Storey Treehouse by Andy griffiths & Terry Denton (Macmillan)

HONOUR BOOKS: The Forgotten Pearl by Belinda Murrell (Random House) AND Thai-Riffic! by Oliver Phommavanh (Penguin)

Fiction for years 7 to 9

WINNER: The Phoenix Files: Contact by Chris Morphew (Hardie Grant)

HONOUR BOOKS: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (Pan Macmillan) AND After by Morris Gleitzman (Penguin)

Not all of our award winning author and illustrators were able to be present on the day, but we did have video greetings from Nick Bland in the Northern Territory, Andy Griffiths who it seems was stuck in an anti-gravity machine, and Terry Denton from his garden studio in Melbourne.