Finalists for the 2013 NZ Post Children's Book Award
Media
Release
Wednesday 3 April
2013
FINALISTS
ANNOUNCED
A Diverse Range Of Themes And
Styles - But Where Are The Heroines?
An impressive variety of
books make up the finalists of this year’s New Zealand
Post Children’s Book Awards. And Chief Judge Bernard
Beckett says it suggests we have a group of New Zealand
writers who are confident enough to pursue their own
interests.
In all, 19 books have been selected as finalists across four categories: best picture book, junior fiction, young adult and non-fiction. The winners from each category will be announced in June.
War was a dominant theme among this year’s entries - a year before the centenary of the start of the First World War.
Bernard said: “As judges, we were pleased to see coverage given to conflicts less likely to be known to young readers such as The Boer War or the conflict in Malaysia. Prominence was also given to the bravery of those who resisted armed conflict, both in World War One and at Parihaka – that strikes us as tremendously important.”
The finalists were chosen from hundreds of entries read by the panel of three judges - children’s literature expert and author Eirlys Hunter, presenter of Radio New Zealand’s Arts on Sunday programme, Lynn Freeman and author Bernard Beckett.
The judges said it was a privilege to read and assess New Zealand’s best books for children and young adults in 2012.
However, the judges raised concerns over the many entries that had great potential but didn’t meet the standard required to become a finalist.
“A large number of books were crying out for a more considered editing or design process: books with clear potential that needed only another careful draft; delightful children’s stories let down by the illustrations or design layout. To see such possibilities unrealised was a clear frustration for us.”
“We were also surprised to see how few strong female characters there were in these pages. Young girls are in danger of seeing themselves once again as serving only decorative roles in stories, and we hope this is more a blip than the beginning of a retrograde trend.”
School-aged
children and young adults can now vote for their favourite
books from among the finalists for the coveted Children’s
Choice
Award.
--
FINALISTS
Picture
Book
A Great Cake by Tina Matthews
Melu by
Kyle Mewburn, Ali Teo & John O’Reilly – Central
Otago
Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy & Gavin Bishop -
Christchurch
Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum by
Terri Rose Baynton - Taupo
Remember That November /
Maumahara ki tērā Nōema by Jennifer Beck, Lindy Fisher &
Kawata Teepa –
Wellington
Junior
Fiction
The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate De
Goldi & Gregory O’Brien –Wellington
The Queen and the
Nobody Boy (A Tale of Fontania) by Barbara Else –
Wellington
My Brother's War by David Hill – New
Plymouth
Red Rocks by Rachael King –
Christchurch
Uncle Trev and His Whistling Bull by Jack
Lasenby – Wellington
Young
Adult Fiction
Earth Dragon, Fire Hare by Ken
Catran – Waimate, South Canterbury
Into the River by
Ted Dawe – Auckland
The Nature of Ash by Mandy Hager
– Wellington
Reach by Hugh Brown –
Wellington
Snakes and Ladders by Mary-anne Scott –
Havelock
North
Non-fiction
100
Amazing Tales From Aotearoa by Simon Morton & Riria Hotere
–Wellington
Kiwi: the real story by Annemarie Florian &
Heather Hunt – Whangarei
Taketakerau, The Millennium
Tree by Marnie Anstis, Patricia Howitt & Kelly Spencer –
Bay of Plenty
At the Beach: Explore & discover the New
Zealand seashore by Ned Barraud & Gillian Candler –
Wellington
Note: Four finalists
were selected in the non-fiction category, compared to five
in the other categories. The judges felt the books selected
represented the best on offer, and all were significantly
better than the next tier of titles
considered.
For more
information on the New Zealand Post Book Awards: www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz
Background information
The New Zealand Post Children’s Book
Awards are managed by Booksellers New Zealand and
sponsored by New Zealand Post. The awards are also supported
by Creative New Zealand and Booksellers Tokens New Zealand.
Important dates
Children’s Choice
voting begins: 3 April – 31 May 2013
New Zealand Post
Children’s Book Awards Festival: 17 – 24 June
2013
Winners announced: 24 June
2013
ENDS