Jane Godwin

Jane Godwin (born 1964 in Melbourne, Australia ^[1] ) is an Australian author, and is a publisher at Penguin Books Australia for children and young adult books.

She was inducted into the Australian Book Industry Awards Hall of Fame on 9 May 2024; ^[2] she also won the 2024 Pixie O’Harris Award.

She lives in Melbourne and works with school pupils ^[3] and Indigenous children through the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. ^[4]

Recognition and awards

Godwin has sole-authored many books which have been published internationally, and she has earned many commendations.

• 1999: shortlisted for New South Wales State Literary Award Patricia Wrightson Prize - Sebby, Stee, The Garbos and Me
• 1999: finalist Young Australian Best Book Award - Sebby, Stee, The Garbos and Me
• 2000: winner of the Queensland Premier's Literary Award - The Family Tree
• 2006: shortlisted for CBC Book of the Year Awards in the Younger Readers category - The True Story of Mary
• 2021: shortlisted for the Children's prize at the Indie Book Awards - Sing Me The Summer ^[5]
• 2021: shortlisted for CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers - When Rain Turns to Snow ^[6]
• 2024: winner of Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) - Children's Picture Book of the Year (ages 0–6) - A Life Song ^[7]
• 2025: shortlisted for the Colin Roderick Award ^[8]

She lives in Melbourne with her husband and has two children, including Wil Wagner. ^{[9] [10]}

Books

• The Family Tree (1998)
• Poor Fish (2000)
• When Anna Slept Over (2001)
• Millie Starts School (2001)
• Jessie and Mr Smith (2003)
• The Day I Turned Ten (2004)
• Minnie and The Super Guys (2004)
• The True Story of Mary (2005)
• When Elephants Lived In The Sea (2006)
• Falling from Grace (2006)
• Little Cat and the Big Red Bus (2008)
• Sam Sullivan's Scooter (2009)
• Where's Sunday? (2010)
• ’All Through the Year (2010) ^[11]
• Today We Have No Plans (2012)
• Starting School (2013)
• Animal Tales (2014) (contributor) ^[12]
• How Big is Too Small? (2016)
• Go Go and the Silver Shoes (2018)
• What Do You Wish For? (2018)
• As Happy as Here (2019)
• Poor Fish (2019) ^[13]
• Sing Me The Summer (2020)
• When Rain Turns to Snow (2020)
• Don’t Forget (2021)
• Arno and His Horse (2021) ^[14]
• All the Words I Need to Know (2022) ^[15]
• A Life Song (2023) ^[16]
• Look Me in the Eye (2024)

References

1. "Jane Godwin". Penguin Books. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008.
2. Books+Publishing website, Stager, Godwin to be inducted into ABIA Hall of Fame; business, publisher shortlists announced, article dated 5 April 2024
3. Scribble Kids Books website, Jane Godwin
4. The Indigenous Literacy Foundation website, Non-Commercial Books Become Commercial!, article dated 10 May 2022
5. "Indie Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
6. "CBCA 2021 Book of the Year shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
7. ABIA (9 May 2024). "Australian Book Industry Award Winners 2024". ABIA. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
8. "Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2025 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 5 August 2025. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
9. "Show & Tell Promotions with Jane Godwin". showtell.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009.
10. "Michael Wagner & Jane Godwin: talented literary partners". The Boomerang Books Blog blog.boomerangbooks.com.au. 8 April 2018.
11. Penguin website, All Through the Year
12. Penguin website, Animal Tales
13. Penguin website, Poor Fish
14. Faber Writing Academy website, Jane Godwin
15. Penguin website, All the Words I Need to Know
16. Penguin website, A Life Song

External links

• Official website
• Author profile at Penguin Books

• Children and Young Adult Literature portal