Celebrating Young Storytellers

Celebrating Young Storytellers: 2026 Mayoral Make-A-Book Literacy Challenge Winners

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 Mayoral Make-A-Book Literacy Challenge, celebrating the creativity and storytelling talents of local students.

This year’s competition saw an incredible 586 entries, involving 600 students - from individuals to small groups and entire classes. From these, 58 outstanding books were selected as winners.

A special awards ceremony was held at Woodville Town Hall on Friday, September 5, where winning students were honoured in person by Mayor Angela Evans.

At the event, Mayor Evans praised the young authors and illustrators for their imagination and effort.

“Each and every one of these young participants has written with a real purpose for a real audience – and that is something very special,” she said.

“Of course, tonight we are recognising the very best of these entries, as chosen by our volunteer judges. They look for originality, creativity, strong storytelling, thoughtful illustrations, engaging design, and quality presentation.

“But we also know that behind every child’s success is a network of encouragement. I would like to sincerely thank the teachers, principals, parents, library staff, council volunteers, our guest judges, and the dedicated council staff who have all played a role in supporting these children’s creativity and in making tonight possible.”

One of the evening’s highlights was hearing Georgia (Year 6) and Marnie (Year5) read their winning books aloud to an audience of nearly 300 attendees - a moment that was both heartfelt and enthusiastically received.

Each winning participant received a $30 QBD voucher, while all entrants were recognised for their efforts and creativity.

Among the judging panel were celebrated local children’s authors Emilie Tunstill and Elle Dawson-Scott, who helped select the standout entries.

Congratulations to all our winners and participants - your stories have inspired us!

View a photo album of the ceremony here.

List: 2026 Mayoral Make-A-Book Literacy Challenge Winners

Preschool
Hugh - My House Man

Reception
Olivia - Where is the crown

Year 1
Leo - The Lions
Thea - Moonlight and the Magic Animals 
Poppy Lee - The Cute Snail 

Year 2
Darcie - The hunt for the gem of powers
Oscar- dog's adventure to get back home

Year 3
Kealey - Monster High Raw
Antonio - Basketball Alive
Paige - The paper spell
Olivia -A splash of kindness
Lena-Anne and Poppy
Vera - Planet Spaghetti
Xavier - The banana man
Roko - The app fight
Alfie - Stuck in a zoo
Estelle-Emily the exploring elephant
Alysia -Space sandwich
Maddison - The little monster
Penelope - The massive storm
Lachlan - The ice-dragon

Year 4
Misaki- The way home
Koa - The lucky boy 
Ray -The legendary dragon 
Tilley - The first case  
Sophie - Faye and the surfing comp 
Cora - The forest door 
Jax - The four superheroes and the corrupted monster 
Deliah - Brooklyn and the mysterious trash 
Elizabeth - The recipe book catastrophe 
Jack - Beach Surprise 
Patrick - Food Talk 
Arshnoor - The magic book 
Zara - The day you were born
Viktoria - The day you were born

Year 5
Marnie - Why do I have to be a tree?
Kobie - The VL enters the power cruise event
Ivy - The black wool
James - Incy Wincy climbs the waterspout
Hawon - The wand
Josh - Aliens vs Agents
Abigail - All the same
Harper - All the same
Dylan - The island of things
Alessandra - Wake up!!! 

Year 6
Miller - The taco comes alive
Sadie - The horse trainer
Reiko - Pixie the Magical Unicorn
Jaxon - Bruce, stop
Esther - Rylie
Ethan - Gregory's Big Mission
Jacob -The bad book
Georgia -The highschool disaster
Elijah -The friends verses the lego monsters
Ada - Pencil Pals
Elise - Crash landing
Maggie - A painted pathway 
Samit - Lost in Lego 2K Drive 
Elena -The pets that choose us
Filip -The pets that choose us