2008 Environment Award for Children's Literature

Going Bush by Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle (Allen & Unwin)

‘No life without habitat’ is a recurring theme in books submitted for the Wilderness Society's Environment Award for Children’s Literature. This year is no exception.

The 2008 winner is Going Bush by Nadia Wheatley, Ken Searle and sixteen primary children from diverse cultural backgrounds (published by Allen & Unwin).

Going Bush demonstrates the rich abundance of life that can be discovered in a patch of inner-city bush.

The children’s journey of exploration, and their acknowledgement of the indigenous custodians, is told through the student’s vibrant artwork and writing, interlinked with photos, paintings and text by the adult authors.

Going Bush provides an inspirational and practical model for getting to know your local habitat, with the essential message of living in harmony with the land and with other people.

Shortlist Picture Books

The Last Tree by Mark Wilson (Lothian Books)

Mang the Wild Orangutan by Joan and John van Loon (Lothian Books)

Tyger! Tyger! By Elizabeth Stanley (University of Western Australia Press)

Natemba by Annette Lodge (ABC Books)

Lucy’s Cat and the Rainbow Birds by Anthony Hill and Jane Tanner (Penguin)

Dust by Colin Thompson and various artists (ABC Books)

Nautilus Pearl of the Deep by Jill Morris and Lynne Muir (Greater Glider)

Drom the Emu by Pauline Reilly and Kayelene Traynor (Bristlebird Books)

Shortlist Non-fiction

30 Amazing Australian Animals by Christopher Cheng and Gregory Rogers (Random House)

The Antarctica Book: Living in the Freezer by Mark Norman (Black Dog Books)

Weather or Not: It’s a Climate for Change by Caren Trafford and David Wilsher (Etram Publishing)

Wallabies, Wombats and other Mammals of Australia by Lee L. Curtis (New Holland Publishers)

Shortlist Fiction

The Other Side by Sally Morgan (National Museum of Australia)