Day: June 11, 2025

2025 DANZ Children’s Book Awards

| Tasha

The winners of the 2025 Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (DANZ) Children’s Book Awards have been announced by The Australian School Library Association. Started only a year ago, the awards “celebrate diverse children’s fiction published in Australia and New Zealand, honouring books that challenge stereotypes, push boundaries, and highlight diverse and marginalised communities, including those representing disability, culture, LGBTQI+, race and religion.”

Here are the winners as well as the books that were shortlisted. Thanks to Books+Publishing for the news.

GRAPHIC NOVEL WINNER

Ghost Book by Remy Lai (available in U.S.)

GRAPHIC NOVEL SHORTLIST

Neverlanders by Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva (available in U.S.)

The Sweetness Between Us by Sarah Winifred Searle (available in U.S.)

NONFICTION WINNER

The Trees by Victor Steffensen, illustrated by Sandra Steffensen

NONFICTION SHORTLIST

Looking After Country with Fire by Victor Steffensen, illustrated by Sandra Steffensen

Our Mob by Taylor Hampton and Jacinta Daniher, illustrated by Seantelle Walsh

POETRY WINNER

Pasifika Navigators by 52 Pasifika student authors

POETRY SHORTLIST

It’s the Sound of the Thing by Maxine Beneba Clarke

YA WINNER

Catch a Falling Star by Eileen Merriman

YA SHORTLIST

Inkflower by Suzy Zail (available in US)

Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough

Kente for Jojo by Bernard Mensah – Book Review

| Tasha

Kente for Jojo by Bernard Mensah, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

A boy wakes up on a special day and races to put on his Kente shirt. As the family heads out, his father tells him the story of Kente. Today is the day they pick out the Kente pattern for his little brother, Jojo. At the Kente store, Kente line the walls and the workers sit at looms weaving. He wants something special for Jojo, so he approaches one of the weavers and they work together to pick a pattern and weave it just for Jojo. When the boy makes a mistake, it becomes part of Jojo’s Kente too. 

This picture book celebrates Kente and its importance in Ghanaian culture. The book ends with more details about Kente, including a longer version of the legend, a brief history, and what the colors mean. The warm and loving family allows the boy to take the lead in deciding on his baby brother’s Kente, instilling a sense of tradition and responsibility to the entire book. The illustrations are filled with cloth patterns and the glowing characters. Done in collage, paint, pen, marker and thread, the illustrations capture Kente on the page.

A beautiful look at Kente and its importance to one little boy. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley provided by Alfred A. Knopf.