
This is completely unexpected and wonderful news!
The White Ravens List is a prestigious international children’s book honour given to a select number of books each year.
From the official website:
Throughout each year, the language specialists at the International Youth Library select recently published books that they consider especially noteworthy. This >>premium label<< is given to books of international interest that deserve a wider reception on account of their universal theme and/or their exceptional and often innovative artistic and literary style and design.
This year, the >>White Ravens<< contain a selection of 200 notable children’s and young adult books from 53 countries published in 37 languages.
This is the second book I’ve had selected for the White Ravens; the first was my picture book In The Lion back in 2013.

There were only 5 Australian titles on this year’s list, so it’s wonderful and surreal to have Stellarphant included!
Here’s what the White Ravens judges said about Stellarphant:
James Foley’s hilarious new picture book tackles inter-species (and gender) discrimination in a highly enjoyable way. Readers will cheer loudly for Stella and her varied crew of creatures whose determination and resilience pop off the page. The colourful, comical illustrations catch witty details, such as the anthropomorphic animals’ facial expressions, and underline the absurdity of discrimination. An (inter-) stellar read!
Congratulations to the creators of the 4 other Australian books on the list:
- My Brother Ben by Peter Carnavas
- Piano Fingers by Caroline Magerl
- The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough
- Sugar by Carly Nugent
You can download the full White Ravens 2022 catalogue here.