Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Children’s Book Award (DANZ): A New Initiative to Shine a Light on Authentic Literature for Youth

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April 2, 2026 is International Children's Book Day (#ICBD2026). Since its inception in 1967, ICBD has inspired a love of reading and brought attention to children's books by spotlighting international literature. Under the auspices of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), IBBY sections from around the globe sponsor each annual celebration. IBBY Cyprus is sponsoring the 2026 ICBD. 

In 1966, the year before ICBD launched, the American Library Association (ALA) initiated the Mildred L. Batchelder Award, which gives a citation to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States. 

These decades long efforts by IBBY and ALA to honor and spotlight international literature for youth have brought authors, illustrators, publishers, educators and librarians into a circle of commitment to sharing a multicultural, multilingual, multireligious canon of books. In countries around the globe, the children's and young adult literature community recognize the importance of honoring books that share authentic stories and capture kids' hearts and minds, books that are written and illustrated by a culturally diverse cadre of authors and artists. 

Inaugurated in 2023, the Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Children's Book Award (DANZ) is a relatively new on-going initiative that recognizes and awards children's books published in Australia and New Zealand. Diversity, as defined by DANZ, includes disability, culture, class, LGBTQIA+, race and religion. The process by which these book awards came into being and how the nominated books rise to meet DANZ's criteria for authenticity are what make this project innovative. It serves as a model for how library professionals and young people can collaborate to further develop their understanding of diversity, representation and inclusion in literature for youth. 

DANZ began as a passion project for Kate Foster, an autistic immigrant to Australia and book author who, through her own experience, recognized a gap in books available to young people. Her vision was to fill a need for children's and young adult literature readers and advocates in Australia and New Zealand. In these two diverse countries, a large percentage of students are not White, not born in either country, not abled, middle class or heterosexual. Recognizing she needed to collaborate to make her vision a reality, Kate posted a tweet asking publishing professionals, booksellers, literature organizations and others if they agreed with her assessment of this critical need. 

When Natalie Otten past-chair and the incoming chair Martha Itzcovitz of the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) learned about Kate's query, they reached out to her and the collaboration that makes DANZ unique was born. Many school librarians were involved in the initial discussions about the award that included the need for diverse books that were not only focused on trauma, struggles and history. Rather they wanted the books nominated to also bring joy, celebration and opportunities for heart-felt empathy and solidarity among diverse readers. They collectively saw the award as human-centered and supportive of underrepresented stories. 

"Ultimately, DANZ is so much more than an award. It is a radical approach to fostering authentic inclusivity in children's literature for authors, illustrators and readers. It is a radical solution to combating the prejudice that leads to censorship" (Itzcovitz and Foster, 2025, p. 42). 

An executive committee composed of handpicked sensitivity readers guide the project. Before the nominated books are shared with the school-age book judges, books go through an extensive process of review. The book nomination panel has very specific criteria provided by the executive committee for reviewing candidates for the DANZ list. So, when the DANZ book judges receive the list of books for their review, they are reading and critiquing the best of the best, books with accurate portrayals of diverse experiences. 

The DANZ process helps the children who judge the books develop as discriminating readers and critical thinkers. First, judges must apply for the job. Those who are selected know the books listed for their review have been vetted for diversity, but they, too, must apply a set of criteria in their assessments of the books. The judges use a point system that is based on eleven questions about each book they read. The judges come away from their experience being more discerning readers! 

The results of the process are carefully curated longlists in the categories of picturebooks, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, nonfiction, graphic novels and poetry. The longlists are circulated digitally and via a print brochure designed and distributed by industry partners and school and public library staff. The brochure is also distributed at literature events across Australia and New Zealand. This resource supports time-strapped teachers, librarians, booksellers and others and helps them audit and build their current collections, thereby putting the best representation into the hands of young readers. 

The continued support by ASLA and leaders like Kate and Martha have made this book award a sustainable feature of children's and teen's reading experiences in Australia and New Zealand. The award process and outcomes show that when thoughtful and creative people come together to serve the needs of youth in their network, they can make a positive difference for every individual reader and for all readers' freedom to read, enjoy, and learn from high-quality books. 

Reference 

Itzcovitz, M. & Foster, K. (2025). "Raising awareness about authentic representation of diversity in children's literature." In J. Moreillon (ed), Radical School Librarianship: A Global Response (pp. 42-57). Facet Publishing. 

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