Jane Godwin

Jane Godwin (born 1964 in Melbourne, Australia ) 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; she also won the 2024 Pixie O’Harris Award.

She lives in Melbourne and works with school pupils and Indigenous children through the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

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
 * 2021: shortlisted for CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers - When Rain Turns to Snow
 * 2024: winner of Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) - Children's Picture Book of the Year (ages 0–6) - A Life Song

She lives in Melbourne with her husband and has two children, including Wil Wagner.

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)
 * Today We Have No Plans (2012)
 * Starting School (2013)
 * Animal Tales (2014) (contributor)
 * 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)
 * Sing Me The Summer (2020)
 * When Rain Turns to Snow (2020)
 * Don’t Forget (2021)
 * Arno and His Horse (2021)
 * All the Words I Need to Know (2022)
 * A Life Song (2023)