The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its book of the year awards shortlist and Ulladulla's Hannah Sommerville is in line to win a major award.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hannah, a locally based illustrator, has been shortlisted for a CBCA Book of the Year Award for her work on 'Jetty Jumping'.
The former Milton Public and Ulladulla High student is highly regarded in her field.
Her picture book Digby and Claude, written by Emma Allen, was selected for the CBCA 2019 Notables list.
Hannah is a best-selling picture book illustrator who creates enchanting watercolour, gouache and digital illustrations in her local studio.
The CBCA Book of the Year Awards will be announced at 12pm on Friday, August 19.
Jetty Jumping was written by Andrea Rowe who "had a childhood fear of jetties and was scared of falling through the cracks and into the murky depths below".
Jetty Jumping follows Milla stays on the blistering wood, scared of what lurks below while her friends take big, brave jumps off the jetty.
However, when Milla accidentally falls off the edge, she discovers the beauty of the deep, dark sea - and her summer changes forever.
Both Andrea and Hannah have "perfectly capture the challenges of childhood - and the joy of letting go - in this homage to summer", according to one review.
The CBCA also announced that this year's final prize pool will exceed $100,000 for the first time.
CBCA Chair Wendy Rapee said it was "turning out to be a year of firsts".
"We saw a record number of award entries, a record prize pool, and right now young readers around Australia are being invited to choose their own CBCA Book of the Year from the Shortlist for the first time. That's for our new Sun Project: Shadow Judging, made possible by funding from the Australian Government RiSE Fund," she said.
