A wonderful afternoon was spent, at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, on the 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Society, celebrating the Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2016.
Combining both the love of children’s literature and the love of nature, The Wilderness Society's annual Environment Award for Children’s Literature (EACL) promotes books that help grow kids' love for nature.
The award recognises some of the highest quality children's books in the country, and the shortlist is frequently used as a guide for parents and teachers wanting to foster a love of wild places and wildlife in young Australians, and to encourage a sense of responsibility for our natural world.
Last year’s winner and one of this year’s judges, Wendy Orr, gave an inspirational address. Being Father’s Day, Wendy recalled her own father constantly picking up rubbish wherever he went. Not only were her parents good role models in encouraging due respect and protection of the environment, but Wendy went on to say they also instilled in her a love for nature and the environment, which has been a powerful force in her writing.
Wendy said the “judging was hard, but the reading was an absolute delight”, as this year’s shortlisted books “inspire us to find out more about nature, cause us to act and to love it with honest respect.”
And the winners of this year’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature are….drum roll please…..
Non-fiction
Atmospheric by Carole Wilkinson
Picture Fiction
Seagull by Danny Snell
Once I Heard a Little Wombat by Renee Treml
Fiction
The River and the Book by Alison Croggon
