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The Kids’ Cancer Project is thrilled to reveal the list of national winners for Write a Book in a Day 2025, with nine publications taking home the national awards.
As part of a record year where $1.2 million was raised for childhood cancer research, 16,661 writers, within 2257 teams from 569 schools and writing groups across the country tried their hand at creating something great.
WA’s Rehoboth Christian College certainly had a memorable year, with two writing groups that were victorious on the national stage, taking home the National Best Book – Open and National Best Illustrations – Middle.
“Another brilliant year of Write a Book in a Day all round, from the fundraising, to the quality of books produced,” says The Kids’ Cancer Project CEO, Owen Finegan.
“Congratulations to all the winners and participants for your involvement in this year’s competition. Not only have you created some fantastic books but you’re also giving sick kids in hospital something to read that will take them away from the oncology ward to an imaginary world, even just for a second.”
Please find the entire National Winners Honour Roll below, complete with judge citations from National Best Book Judge, acclaimed author, Will Kostakis!
National Best Book – Open: A Tad Fish by Reho Righters
Rehoboth Christian College, WA
"A Tad Fishy is a perfectly pitched book about expectations, competitiveness and growing up, that comes alive thanks to cracking dialogue, and simple (yet effective) illustrations that are reminiscent of Heartstopper."
National Best Book – Upper: Lady Bug by Twinkle Toes
Penrith Selective High School, NSW
"A perfectly pitched story – with lively prose and (oftentimes livelier) illustrations working harmoniously. You’ve transported me right back to the contained chaos of my childhood’s wet-weather lunches, and all to service a beautiful message: There’s nothing that is broken that effort cannot fix. Spectacular work."
National Best Book – Middle: The Desert Echoes in Stone
Helena College, WA
"Such an inventive story, complemented by gorgeous illustrations that make the book stand out… It begins with a voicey opening paragraph that hooks the reader, and ends with the promise of another adventure in the closing lines that leaves the reader wanting more. So impressive."
National Best Book – Primary: Rock 'n' Rescue
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Pinjarra, WA
"A first chapter consisting mostly of cow puns set the bar high, and this narrative maintains the delight-factor to the very end. Perfectly pitched for its intended audience, it balances laughs and a narrative thrust that keeps pages turning. A legen-dairy effort."
Best Illustrations Winners List, Judge Citations attributed to former Disney artist, Angus Olsen.
National Best Illustrations – Middle: Boat, Spit and Shears by Orange Dogs
Rehoboth Christian College, WA
“Beautiful consistent style with feeling. I can see Nicole and Helena must’ve really been pushing it to get this done and yet they delivered fantastic visual connection to the material. The standout image that caught my eye was Kevin in his boat, you took on a challenging top down fisheye perspective to communicate the scene fully.
“Your advanced character design, consistency, challenging scene choices and unique style contributed so well to the story. You didn’t choose the easy path, you decided to push yourselves technically and it paid off. I really enjoyed your drawings of Will, Goochi and Kevin and I think others will too. Congratulations.”
National Best Illustrations – Upper: First Flight by The Spine Crackers (-1)
Victory College (Gympie), QLD
“With a total of 9 full colour illustrations with backgrounds this was an extremely impressive feat of teamwork given the consistency of character design despite the different styles of artists. Excellent visual communication. The image of Lawrence on page 18 complete with flowing hair, tan lines, dolphin and sparkles had me burst out laughing.
“Some entries delivered an extremely high artistic competence but not enough images to compliment the story. Others delivered lots of decent visuals but lacked a consistency and didn’t quite gel with how the story felt. First Flight consistently contributed to the story with quality visuals and had the best overall appeal. Well done!”
There were two joint winners of the Best Illustrations – Primary category, both listed below. Judge Citations attributed to multi-award-winning author-illustrator, Judith Rossell.
National Best Illustrations – Middle Joint Winner: The Aussie Christmas Extravaganza
Christmas Island District High School, WA
National Best Illustrations – Middle Joint Winner: Monkey Mischief
Arden Anglican School, NSW
“Congratulations Illustrators! Your story stood out because of the big variety of illustrations! It made the story so fun to read, because every page looks interesting and different. I loved how you illustrated the setting so well and included extra details in the illustrations. Well done illustrators!”
National Best Illustrations – Open: Where we came from by Story Stringers, SA
“Congratulations illustrators! Your very striking and well-drawn cover really drew me into the story. I appreciated the way you used the same landscape, as a double page spread, showing the different colours and moods as the story progressed.
“I also liked the chapter heading illustration, and all the small spot illustrations that effectively add to the story, break up the text and create a variety of creative page designs. Well done everyone!”
To view the full list of winners, including from each state and territory, click here.
To view the Online Library, where all participating books are stored, click here.
