The New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
The awards are supported by New Zealand Post and administered by Booksellers New Zealand. Awards are currently offered in the following categories: Book of the Year, Picture Book, JuniorFiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Best First Book,Children's Choice Award.
The winner of each category is awarded $7500, with the winner of book of the year taking home an extra $7500.
* The winner of the best first book and the children's choice award received $2000 each.
* The honour award recipient received a monetary award of $500.
2010 Winners
Picture Book and New Zealand Post Book of the Year: Old Hu-Hu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Rachel Driscoll (Scholastic New Zealand). Te reo edition: Hu-Hu Koroheke, translated by Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira (Scholastic New Zealand)
Everyone loved Old Hu-Hu. But nobody loved him quite as much as little Hu-Hu-Tu. Old Hu-Hu is a thoughtful tale of young Hu-Hu-Tu's search for understanding of what has happened to his beloved Old Hu-Hu, who flew all the way to the moon (or so they said), then fell down dead. Sensitively written, this is a beautiful story of death and the celebration of life, with powerful, evocative illustrations by Rachel Driscoll.
Honour Award: The Word Witch by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by David Elliot and edited by Tessa Duder (HarperCollins Publishers) -An illustrated selection of the poetry of Margaret Mahy, illustrated by David Elliot. Do you know about the Word Witch? Has she cast her spell over you? She can lasso with a limerick, haunt with a haiku and wrap you tight in a rhyme, quick as lightning. Her cauldron is a dictionary, her wand a mighty pen, and she stirs her words at midnight, making tempting treats for children, to please and tease and tantalise them with imaginary treasures and delectable dreams. She weaves words into adventures, sets verses wildly dancing, makes similes sing and stamp their feet and poems purr like pussycats who've eaten all the cream. Her name is Margaret Mahy. These are her spells.
Non-fiction: E3 Call Home by Janet Hunt (Random House New Zealand) - Every year in March thousands of godwits leave New Zealand and fly almost 17,000 kilometres to Alaska, where they mate and raise new godwits, and then turn around and fly all the way back to New Zealand. This is the story of two godwits whose flight in 2007 was tracked using transmitters. Millions of people watched their progress on the internet. A male bird named E3 mysteriously turned back when he reached Papua New Guinea and then he ceased to transmit altogether. What had happened to him? A female named E7, however, showed that godwits can fly from Alaska to New Zealand - right across the Pacific - a distance of 11,200 non-stop kilometres. Packed with wonderful photos, fascinating information about godwits and other wading birds, this is an enchanting story, a brilliant book for any child. A true tale to spark the imaginations of children and adults.
Junior Fiction: The Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe (Longacre Press) -To the boy called Red, it seems the most marvellous escape he could wish for: a gift that grants him more freedom than he ever believed possible - the chance to fly, to soar with the gulls, high over the tall brick walls that have imprisoned him for so long. But this gift comes with a terrible price - and puts him in grave danger. Is there anyone Red can trust to help him? The curious Captain Bass who has strange powers of his own? The wildly unpredictable twin sisters he is strongly drawn to? In this magical, mysterious story, Red's adventure is like a chamber of mirrors at a carnival - a dazzling and breathtaking tale.
Young Adult Fiction: Blood of the Lamb: The Crossingby Mandy Hager (Random House New Zealand) - The Crossing is the first book in a stunning new trilogy that follows the fate of Maryam and her unlikely companions - Joseph, Ruth and Lazarus. This is fast, suspenseful drama underpinned by a powerful and moving story about love and loss. The people of Onewere, a small island in the Pacific, know that they are special - chosen to survive the deadly event that consumed the Earth. Now, from the rotting cruise ship Star of the Sea, the elite control the population - manipulating old texts to set themselves up as living 'gods'. But what the people of Onewere don't know is this: the leaders will stop at nothing to meet their own blood-thirsty needs. When Maryam crosses from child to woman, she must leave everything she has ever known and make a crossing of another kind. But life inside the ship is not as she had dreamed, and she is faced with the unthinkable: obey the leaders and very likely die, or turn her back on every belief she once held dear.
Best First Book Award: The Bone Tiki by David Hair (HarperCollins Publishers) -What do you do when you meet a tohunga makutu? You run. When reality dissolves and myths and legends come alive? You run faster. And when the dead come to life and blood debts have to be paid, will you have the courage to do what must be done? Matiu Douglas has a bone tiki he stole from a tangi. His father's important new client wants it. Badly. And he has some very nasty friends. When Mat is forced to flee for his life, an unexpected meeting with a girl called Pania sets his world spinning. Suddenly he's running through the bush with a girl-clown, a dog who is way too human, and a long-dead warrior. Fearful creatures from legend are rising up around him, and Mat faces a terrifying ordeal. And there is nowhere left to hide...not even in another world.
Children's Choice Award: The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith, illustrated by Katz Cowley (Scholastic New Zealand) - In this very funny, cumulative song, each page tells us something new about the donkey until we end up with a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey, which will have children in fits of laughter! There is much fun to be had by listening to the song and trying to predict the new word for each clue given. Craig Smith's song, The Wonky Donkey, won an APRA Silver Scroll Award in 2008 for Best Children's Song of the Year.
2008 | Past Winners 1996 - 2007
2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards Winners
New Zealand Post Book of the Year Winner
The 10PM Question
Frankie Parsons is twelve going on old man, an apparently sensible, talented boy with a drumbeat of worrying questions steadily gaining volume in his head: Are the smoke alarm batteries flat? Does the cat, and therefore the rest of the family, have worms? Will bird flu strike and ruin life as we know it? Is the Kidney-shaped spot on his chest actually a galloping cancer? Only Ma takes seriously his catalogue of persistent queries. But it is Ma who is the cause of the most worrying question of all, the one that Frankie can never bring himself to ask. Then the new girl arrives at school and has questions of her own: relentless, unavoidable questions. So begins the unravelling of Frankie Parsons's carefully controlled world. More
Children's Choice Award
The Were-Nana written by Melinda Szymanik, illustrated by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson (Scholastic New Zealand)
Simon loves to scare Stella Rosa, especially with his stories. Most of the time Stella Rosa can cope but now her grandmother, Nana Lupin, is coming to visit from a far-away country and Simon whispers that Nana Lupin is a Were-Nana ...and Stella Rosa believes him. The darkly robed figure that comes through the arrival gate at the airport does look like a Were-Nana after all...and Stella Rosa is afraid because she hasn't been given the special potion that Simon says she should have drunk to protect her!
Picture Book
Winner: Roadworks written by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Brian Lovelock (Walker Books)
Plan the road. Plan the road. Mark it on the map. Hammer in the marking pegs. PING! BANG! TAP!’ So begins this energetic and rhythmic picture book that takes the reader through the various stages of making a road—from map-making through to earth-moving, tar-rolling, lighting and planting trees along the verge. There are even pages devoted |to the workmen’s lunch-time on the worksite, and the final celebrations of cars and buses driving on the road for the first time. Perfectly aimed at two-to-five-yearolds, the book caters for its younger readers with bold colourful pictures and strong onomatopoeic words that lend themselves to shouting: Squelch! Spluck! Splat! At the same time, older readers, especially boys, will love the detail of the gradually completed building project, with all its attendant machinery, road-signs and workmen in uniform. An illustrated page of machine facts completes the book, with brief descriptions of excavators, truck-mounted cranes, graders and the like. Roadworks is written by New Zealand playwright and children’s author Sally Sutton (Crazy Kiwi Tops and Tails) and illustrated by first-timer Brian Lovelock. It’s a beautifully bright and noisy book that satisfies the curiosity of children who need to know how things get made.
Honour Book: Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig written by Diana Neild, illustrated by Philip Webb (Scholastic New Zealand)
Other Finalists
Duck’s Stuck! Written by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly (Scholastic New Zealand)
Every Second Friday written by Kiri Lightfoot, illustrated by Ben Galbraith (Hodder Children’s Books)
The Were-Nana written by Melinda Szymanik, illustrated by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson (Scholastic New Zealand)
Non-fiction
Winner: Back & Beyond: New Zealand Painting for the Young & Curious
by Gregory O’Brien (Auckland University Press)
A painting can take you to many places. It can take you around the world, or it can take you around the country, city or neighbourhood you live in. It can also transport you back into the distant past of myths, legends and ancient history - or it can take you way into the future. Since Maori first drew moa and mythical birds on cave walls, artists in Aotearoa New Zealand have provided an imaginative, lively account of the lives locals have been leading, the dreams they've been dreaming and the stories they've been telling. Alongside works painted during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this book features art by contemporary painters and printmakers, all of them seasoned travellers across time and space. Angels, rugby players, whales, kiwi and canoes, moa and mountains, the bush and the beaches all play starring roles in this bird's-eye view of New Zealand painting. "Back and Beyond" is alive with real and imagined encounters, with mysteries and discoveries, and with many of the paintings that have, over the past few hundred years, broadened the horizons of the citizens, young and old, of the shaky isles.
Other Finalists
The Crafting of Narnia: The Art, Creatures, and Weapons from Weta Workshop
by Weta Workshop, Paul Tobin and Daniel Falconer (HarperOne)
High-Tech Legs on Everest by Mark Inglis with Sarah Ell
(Random House New Zealand)
Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers by Brigid Lowry (Allen and Unwin)
Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood by Gavin Bishop (Random House New Zealand)
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Junior Fiction
Winner: Old Drumble: The Smartest Drover's Dog There Ever Was by Jack Lasenby (HarperCollins Publishers)
The humorous and heartwarming story of Jack Jackman, a young boy who wants to be a stockdrover, set in the small Waikato township of Waharoa in the late 1930s. Jack has a wonderful warm relationship with his parents and an old family friend, Andy the Drover, who each week drives a mob of cattle or sheep through the main street with the help of his dog, Old Drumble, and his horse, Nosy. All three become the boy's close friends over the long hot summer holidays, and each week Andy more.
Other Finalists
Chicken Feathers by Joy Cowley, illustrated by David Elliot (Puffin)
Enemy at the Gate by Philippa Werry (Scholastic New Zealand)
Five (and a bit) Days in the Life of Ozzie Kingsford written by Val Bird,
illustrated by Rebecca Cundy (Random House New Zealand)
Payback by Michelle Kelly (Scholastic New Zealand) { sorry, can't track this title}
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Young Adult Fiction
Winner: The 10pm Question by Kate de Goldi (Longacre Press)
Chronicles of Stone #1, Scorched Bone by Vincent Ford (Scholastic New Zealand)
Gool by Maurice Gee (Puffin)
Juno of Taris by Fleur Beale (Random House New Zealand)
The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner (Walker Books)
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First Book Award
Violence 101Hamish Graham is intelligent, disciplined, resourceful and fearless, and scorns all weakness. His heroes include Charles Upham, Alexander the Great and Te Rauparaha - all men of action. But he is also a fourteen-year-old with an anger problem and a disturbing past, and these have landed him in a series of boys' homes for violent and troubled young offenders. The gripping series of events following his arrival at New Horizons culminates in a desperate rescue mission on a mountain that has already claimed the lives of two young soldiers.
2008 Winners New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
Book of the Year: Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Gecko Press) Joy's website
Snake and Lizard are a lovable, foolish pair, always arguing, embarking on unlikely enterprises and telling one another hotly contested tales - none of which behaviour lessens their affection for one another.
The judges of the NZ Post Children's and Young Adult Book Awards said: "This timeless look at two feisty (and forgiving) best mates utterly beguiled the judges with its assured writing, sharp humour and gentle, unforced observations on the nature of friendship..." To read the judges report in full, visit Booksellers NZ.
Snake and Lizard has also been awarded a White Raven, by the International Youth Library, given to 250 notable children's books published internationally each year.
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Young Adult Fiction Winner: Salt by Maurice Gee (Penguin New Zealand)
Penguin New Zealand
ISBN 978-0-14330-335-0 pb, RRP $17.95
Target Age Group 12+. back to top
Young Adult Fiction Honour Award: The Sea-wreck Stranger by Anna Mackenzie (Longacre Press))
Junior Fiction: Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Gecko Press
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Picture Book Honour Award: To The Harbour written and illustrated by Stanley Palmer (Lopdell House Gallery)
Children's Choice Award: The King’s Bubbles by Ruth Paul (Scholastic)
Best First Book Award: Out of The Egg written and illustrated by Tina Matthews. (Walker Books)
Non-fiction Award Winner
Which New Zealand Spider?Penguin New Zealand
ISBN 978-0-14300-643-5 pb, RRP $25.00
Target Age Group 5+
Part of the very successful Which series, this book makes it simple to identify a spider and learn about its lifestyle. All spiders commonly seen in New Zealand are covered – native and introduced. Which New Zealand Spider? is full of detail and includes the author’s trademark features of easy, accurate identification. It features illustrative photographs throughout.
Finalists 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
Picture Book
- The King’s Bubbles (Ruth Paul, Scholastic NZ) - Winner
- Out of the Egg (Tina Matthews, Walker Books)
- Rats! (Gavin Bishop, Random House NZ)
- Tahi--One Lucky Kiwi (Melanie Drewery, illus by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly, Random House NZ)
- To the Harbour (Stanley Palmer, Lopdell House Gallery)
Nonfiction
- A Mini Guide to the Identification of New Zealand Land Birds (Andrew Crowe, illus by Dave Gunson, Penguin NZ)
- Reaching the Summit (Alexa Johnston with David Larsen, Penguin NZ)
- Weather Watch New Zealand (Sandra Carrod, illus by Karsten Schneider and Richard Gunther, Reed NZ)
- What is a Fish? (Feana Tu’akoi, designed by Vasanti Unka, Scholastic NZ)
- Which New Zealand Spider? (Andrew Crowe, Penguin NZ) - Winner
Junior Fiction
- Dead Dan’s Dee (Phyllis Johnston, Longacre Press)
- The Dumpster Saga (Craig Harrison, Scholastic NZ)
- The Mad Tadpole Adventure (Melanie Drewery, illus by Jenny Cooper, Scholastic NZ)
- My Story Sitting on the Fence: The Diary of Martin Daly, Christchurch 1981 (Bill Nagelkerke, Scholastic NZ)
- Snake and Lizard (Joy Cowley, illus by Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press) - Winner
Young Adult Fiction
- Salt (Maurice Gee, Penguin NZ) - Winner
- The Sea-wreck Stranger (Anna Mackenzie, Longacre Press)
- Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful (Brigid Lowry, A&U)
- The Transformation of Minna Hargreaves (Fleur Beale, Random House NZ)
- Zillah (Penelope Todd, Longacre Press)
Past Winners New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 1997 to 2007
2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 |
2007
Book of the Year Non-Fiction: :Illustrated History of the South Pacific, by Marcia Stenson (Random House)
Young Adult Fiction Genesis, by Bernard Beckett (Longacre Press)
Young Adult Fiction Honour Award Single Fin, by Aaron Topp (Random House)
Junior Fiction:Thor's Tale by Janice Marriott (HarperCollins Publishing)
Non-Fiction: Which New Zealand Spider? by Andrew Crowe (Penguin New Zealand)
Picture Book Kiss!Kiss!Yuck! Yuck!, by Kyle Mewburn and illustrated by Ali Teo and John O'Reilly (Scholastic New Zealand)
Non-Fiction Honour Award: Reaching The Summit by Alexa Johnston with David Larsen (Penguin New Zealand)
Picture Book Honour Award A Present From the Past, by Jennifer Beck and Lindy Fisher
Children's Choice Award Kiss!Kiss!Yuck!Yuck!, by Kyle Mewburn and illustrated by Ali Teo and John O'Reilly (Scholastic New Zealand)
Best First Book Award The Three Fishing Brothers Gruff, by Ben Galbraith (Hodder Children's Books)
2006
Book of the Year Hunter, by Joy Cowley (Puffin)
Picture Book A Booming in the Night, written by Ben Brown and illustrated by Helen Taylor (Reed Publishing)
Picture Book Honour Award Haere - Farewell, Jack, farewell, written by Tim Tipene and illustrated by Huhana Smith
Junior Fiction Hunter, by Joy Cowley (Puffin)
Junior Fiction Honour Award Sil, by Jill Harris (Longacre Press)
Young Adult Fiction With Lots of Love From Georgia, by Brigid Lowry (Allen & Unwin)
Young Adult Fiction Honour Award Kaitangate Twitch, by Margaret Mahy (Allen & Unwin)
Non-Fiction Scarecrow Army: The Anzacs of Gallipoli, by Leon Davidson (Black Dog Books)
Non-Fiction Honour Award Blue New Zealand: Plants, Animals, Environments - A Visual Guide, by Glenys Stace (Puffin)
Children's Choice Award Nobody's Dog, written by Jennifer Beck and illustrated by Lindy Fisher (Scholastic New Zealand)
Best First Book Award The Unknown Zone, by Phil Smith (Random House)
2005
Book of the Year Clubs: A Lolly Leopold Story, written by Kate De Goldi and illustrated by Jacqui Colley (Trapeze)
Picture Book Clubs, Kate De Goldi and Jacqui Colley (Trapeze)
Junior Fiction Aunt Effie and the Island that Sank, Jack Lasenby (Longacre Press)
Young Adult Fiction Malcolm and Juliet, Bernard Beckett (Longacre Press)
Non-Fiction Welcome to the South Seas: Contemporary New Zealand Art for Young People, Gregory O’Brien (Auckland University Press)
Children's Choice Award The Other Ark, Lynley Dodd (Mallinson Rendel)
Best First Book Cross Tides, Lorraine Orman (Longacre Press)
2004
Book of the Year A Bird in the Hand, Janet Hunt (Random House).
Picture Book Cuthbert's Babies, Pamela Allen (Viking).
Junior Fiction Juggling with Mandarins, V M Jones (HarperCollins).
Young Adult Fiction Thunder Road, Ted Dawe (Longacre Press)
Non-Fiction A Bird in the Hand, Janet Hunt (Random House).
Children's Choice Award Oh Hogwash, Sweet Pea!, Ngareta Gabel, Ali Teo and Astrid Jensen (Huia Publishers)
Best First Book Thunder Road, Ted Dawe (Longacre Press)
Honour Award Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer, Lloyd Jones and Graeme Gash (Mallinson Rendel Publishers
2003
Book of the Year Weaving Earth and Sky: Myths and Legends of Aotearoa, Robert Sullivan and Gavin Bishop (Random House).
Picture Book Pigtails the Pirate, David Elliot (Random House).
Junior Fiction Buddy, V M Jones (HarperCollins).
Senior Fiction Alchemy, Margaret Mahy (HarperCollins)
Non-Fiction Weaving Earth and Sky: Myths and Legends of Aotearoa, Robert Sullivan and Gavin Bishop (Random House).
Children's Choice Award Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms?, Dawn McMillan, Bert Signal and Ross Kinnaird (Reed).
Best First Book Buddy, V M Jones (HarperCollins).
2002
Book of the Year The Plight of the Penguin, Lloyd Spencer Davis (Longacre Press).
Picture Book Brodie, Joy Cowley and Chris Mousdale (Scholastic New Zealand).
Junior Fiction Recycled, Sandy McKay (Longacre Press).
Senior Fiction Owl, Joanna Orwin (Longacre Press).
Non-Fiction The Plight of the Penguin, Lloyd Spencer Davis (Longacre Press).
Children's Choice Award Grandpa's Shorts, Joy Watson and Wendy Hodder (Scholastic New Zealand).
Best First Book Brodie, Chris Mousdale - illustrator (Scholastic New Zealand).
2001
Book of the Year Voyage with Jason, Ken Catran (Scholastic / Lothian).
Picture Book Oliver in the Garden, Margaret Beames and Sue Hitchcock (Scholastic New Zealand).
Junior Fiction Shadrach Girl, Joy Cowley (Penguin Books).
Senior Fiction Voyage with Jason, Ken Catran (Scholastic / Lothian).
Non-Fiction The Zoo: Meet the Locals (Colin Hogg).
Children's Choice Award Oliver in the Garden, Margaret Beames and Sue Hitchcock (Scholastic New Zealand).
2000
Book of the Year The House the Jack Built, Gavin Bishop (Scholastic New Zealand).
Picture Book The House the Jack Built, Gavin Bishop (Scholastic New Zealand).
Junior Fiction 2MUCH4U, Vince Ford (Scholastic New Zealand).
Senior Fiction The Tiggie Thompson Show, Tessa Duder (Penguin Books).
Non-Fiction Te Wao Nui a Tane, Hirini Melbourne & Te Maari Gardiner (Huia Publishers).
Best First Book 2MUCH4U, Vince Ford (Scholastic New Zealand).
Children's Choice Award Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack, Lynley Dodd (Mallinson Rendel).
1999
Book of the Year A Summery Saturday Morning, Margaret Mahy (Penguin).
Picture Book A Summery Saturday Morning, Margaret Mahy (Penguin).
Junior Fiction Starbright and the Dream Eater, Joy Cowley (Penguin).
Senior Fiction Taur, Jack Lasenby (Longacre Press).
Non-Fiction The Natural World of New Zealand, Gerard Hutching (Penguin).
Best First Book Footsteps of the Gods, Hana Hiraina Erlbeck (Reed).
Children's Choice Award The Life-Size Inflatable Whale, Gaelyn Gordon & John Tarlton (Scholastic).
1998
Book of the Year Dare Truth or Promise, Paula Boock (Longacre Press).
Picture Book Alphabet Apartments, Lesley Moyes (Mallinson Rendel).
Junior Fiction Ticket to the Sky Dance, Joy Cowley (Penguin).
Senior Fiction Dare Truth or Promise, Paula Boock (Longacre Press).
Non-Fiction The Know, Sow & Grow Kids' Book of Plants, Diana Noonan & Keith Olsen (Bridge Hill Publishing).
Best First Book Trapped, Judy Knox (Scholastic).
Children's Choice Award Alphabet Apartments, Lesley Moyes (Mallinson Rendel).
1997
Book of the Year The Bantam and the Soldier, Jennifer Beck, illustrated by Robyn Belton (Scholastic Publishers).
Picture Book The Bantam and the Soldier, Jennifer Beck, illustrated by Robyn Belton (Scholastic Publishers).
Junior Fiction The Battle of Pook Island, Jack Lasenby (Longacre Press).
Senior Fiction Sanctuary, Kate de Goldi (Penguin).
Non-Fiction Picture Book Magic, Chris Gaskin, photography by Denis Page (Reed Publishing).
Best First Book Reliable Friendly Girls, Jane Westaway (Longacre Press).
Children's Choice Award Mechanical Harry, Bob Kerr (Mallinson Rendel).
