# BILBY Award

The BILBY Awards are organised annually by the Queensland Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia. The name of the award, BILBY, is an acronym of 'Books I Love Best Yearly'.
These awards are children's choice awards. Each year Queensland children are asked to nominate their favourite book that they have read in the past year; only the winners from the previous two years are excluded from nomination. The nominations are made in three readership categories (see below). The nomination process is the first phase of the awards.
In each category, around five of the most popularly nominated books are grouped into shortlists. In the second phase of the awards students are encouraged to read the books from the list in their readership category and vote for their favourite title. The book receiving the most votes is declared the winner in its category.

## Award category and description

Prior to 1997 there were three Awards categories for primary school readers – Read Alone, Read Aloud and Read Australian – and one category for Secondary. In 1997 a readership format was introduced, though the Early Readers category was first called the Picture Book category, then the Early Childhood category [see below].
Currently there are three categories:
* Early Readers – for books for readers under 8 years old
* Younger Readers – for books for readers between 8 and 12 years old
* Older Readers – for books for readers over 12 years old.

## List of BILBY Award winners
### Early Readers Award

Note: Before 2001, this award was called the "Early Childhood" (1990–1999), "Picture Book" (1998–1997) and "Read Alone" (1996–1990) awards.
| Year | Author | Book | Citation |
| 1990 | Judy Blume | Superfudge | Winner |
| 1991 | Roald Dahl | The BFG | Winner |
| 1992 | Paul Jennings | Unreal! | Winner |
| 1993 | Roald Dahl | The Witches | Winner |
| 1994 | Paul Jennings | Undone! | Winner |
| 1995 | Gina Ingoglia | The Lion King | Winner |
| 1996 | Martin Handford | Where's Wally? | Winner |
| 1997 | David Legge | Bamboozled | Winner |
| 1998 | Margaret Wild and Ann James | The Midnight Gang | Winner |
| 1999 | Terry Denton | Gasp! | Winner |
| 2000 | Rod Clement | Grandad's Teeth | Winner |
| 2001 | Martin Handford | Where's Wally? | Winner |
| 2002 | Bob Graham | Buffy – An Adventure Story | Winner |
| 2003 | Narelle Oliver | The Very Blue Thingamajig | Winner |
| 2004 | Dr. Seuss | The Cat in the Hat | Winner |
| 2005 | Leigh Hobbs | Old Tom's Holiday | Winner |
| 2006 | Margaret Wild, illus. David Legge | Baby Boomsticks | Winner |
| 2007 | Kara LaReau, illus. Scott Magoon | Ugly fish | Winner |
| 2008 | Jackie French, illus. Bruce Whatley | Diary of a Wombat | Winner |
| 2009 | Roald Dahl | The Twits | Winner |
| 2010 | H I Larry | Zac Power: Poison Island | Winner |
| 2011 | Vicki Myron | Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library! | Winner |
| 2012 | Dr. Seuss | The Cat in the Hat | Winner |
| 2013 | David Legge | Bamboozled | Winner |
| 2014 | David Wiesner | Art & Max | Winner |
| 2015 | Mo Willems | Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! | Winner |
| 2016 | B. J. Novak | The Book With No Pictures | Winner |
| 2017 | Aaron Blabey | Pig the Pug | Winner |
| 2018 | Andy Lee, illus. Heath McKenzie | Do Not Open This Book | Winner |

### Younger Readers Award

Note: Before 1997, this award was called the "Read Aloud Award".
| Year | Author | Book | Citation |
| 1990 | Roald Dahl | Matilda | Winner |
| 1991 | Roald Dahl | The BFG | Winner |
| 1992 | Roald Dahl | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Winner |
| 1993 | Morris Gleitzman | Blabber Mouth | Winner |
| 1994 | Roald Dahl | Fantastic Mr Fox | Winner |
| 1995 | David Kirschner | The Pagemaster | Winner |
| 1996 | Ruth Park, illus. Deborah Niland | When the Wind Changed | Winner |
| 1997 | Roald Dahl | Matilda | Winner |
| 1998 | Daisy Corning Stone Spedder, illus. Laurie McGaw | Polar, the Titanic Bear | Winner |
| 1999 | Bruce Whatley and R. Smith | Detective Donut and the Wild Goose Chase | Winner |
| 2000 | Andy Griffiths | Just Stupid! | Winner |
| 2001 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter series | Winner |
| 2002 | Andy Griffiths | Just Crazy! | Winner |
| 2003 | Bonnie Bryant | The Saddle Club series | Winner |
| 2004 | Andy Griffiths | Just Disgusting! | Winner |
| 2005 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The Bad Book | Winner |
| 2006 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | Just Crazy! | Winner |
| 2007 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The Cat on the Mat Is Flat | Winner |
| 2008 | Andy Griffiths | Just Shocking! | Winner |
| 2009 | Andy Griffiths | Pencil of doom! | Winner |
| 2010 | Jeff Kinney | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Winner |
| 2011 | Jeff Kinney | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth | Winner |
| 2012 | Jeff Kinney | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Winner |
| 2013 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The 26-Storey Treehouse | Winner |
| 2014 | Michael Gerard Bauer | Eric Vale, Epic Fail | Winner |
| 2015 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The 52-Storey Treehouse | Winner |
| 2016 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The 65-Storey Treehouse | Winner |
| 2017 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The 76-Storey Treehouse | Winner |
| 2018 | Andy Griffiths, illus. Terry Denton | The 91-Storey Treehouse | Winner |

### Older Readers Award

| Year | Author | Book | Citation |
| 1990 | Sue Townsend | The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ | Winner |
| 1991 | S. E. Hinton | The Outsiders | Winner |
| 1992 | Martin Handford | Where's Wally? | Winner |
| 1993 | V. C. Andrews | Flowers in the Attic | Winner |
| 1995 | Melina Marchetta | Looking for Alibrandi | Winner |
| 1996 | Michael Crichton | Jurassic Park | Winner |
| 1997 | J. R. R. Tolkien | The Hobbit | Winner |
| 1998 | John Marsden | Tomorrow, When the War Began | Winner |
| 1999 | Morris Gleitzman | Bumface | Winner |
| 2000 | Melina Marchetta | Looking for Alibrandi | Winner |
| 2001 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter series | Winner |
| 2002 | J. R. R. Tolkien | The Lord of the Rings | Winner |
| 2003 | Various authors | Two of a Kind series | Winner |
| 2004 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Winner |
| 2005 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Winner |
| 2006 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Winner |
| 2007 | Christopher Paolini | Eragon | Winner |
| 2008 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Winner |
| 2009 | Stephenie Meyer | Twilight | Winner |
| 2010 | Stephenie Meyer | New Moon | Winner |
| 2011 | Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief | Winner |
| 2012 | Suzanne Collins | The Hunger Games | Winner |
| 2013 | J. R. R. Tolkien | The Hobbit | Winner |
| 2014 | Suzanne Collins | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | Winner |
| 2015 | James Dashner | The Maze Runner | Winner |
| 2016 | Suzanne Collins | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay | Winner |
| 2017 | Ransom Riggs | Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children | Winner |
| 2018 | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Winner |

### Read Australia Award

| Year | Author | Book | Citation |
| 1994 | Randolph Stow | Midnite | Winner |
| 1995 | Gary Crew, illus. Steven Woolman | The Watertower | Winner |
| 1996 | Paul Jennings | The Gizmo | Winner |