The Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year and the Image Problem

Despite the proliferation of literary awards, sometimes with a more extensive list of categories and often with more generous prize money, the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year is still the only award that has a significant impact on book sales in this country. Throughout the 65-year history of the CBC, both the judging criteria and the judges themselves have constantly been subjected to criticism and instead of acknowledging that, as English (2005) and Kidd (2007, 2009) argue, literary prizes are by their nature provocative and, therefore, welcoming any challenges, the CBC has responded repeatedly by asserting that it is a last bastion of literary standards. This article argues that the desire to shore up its cultural capital in this way derives from an image problem related to its identification with primary school education and librarianship, and suggests that to do so is counterproductive.