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New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
Festival and Celebrations
New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults - Festival and Celebrations is a ten day festival celebrating the importance of children's books, reading and writing with hundreds of events nationwide.
It takes place annually in May and includes a tour by New Zealand children's writers and illustrators into 26 regions, organised by the New Zealand Book Council. The festival culminates with the announcement of the winners of the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults and is sponsored by New Zealand Post and supported by Creative New Zealand. It is managed and administered by Booksellers New Zealand.
Events and activities are organised by a national network of volunteer coordinators who do a magnificent job in staging events that turn kids on to books and celebrate New Zealand writing.
Award celebrations focus attention on finalist books and their authors and promote the importance and enjoyment of books and reading. This festival of activities is for children, parents, teachers, librarians, community groups and anyone excited by the value and pleasure of children's books and reading.
By recognising the outstanding range and quality of books by New Zealand writers and illustrators, published in the preceding year, these celebrations provide inspiration for a new generation of writers and illustrators.
For more information visit: www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz.
2011 winners
Picture Book and NZ Post Children's Book of the Year
The Moon & Farmer McPhee, by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by David Elliot
(Random House New Zealand)
Young Adult Fiction
Fierce September, by Fleur Beale
(Random House New Zealand)
Non-fiction
Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front, by Leon Davidson
(Text Publishing Company)
Junior Fiction
Finnigan & the Pirates, by Sherryl Jordan
(Scholastic New Zealand)
2011 Judges
2011 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Judges’ biographical information.
Ruth McIntyre is the co-owner (with her husband, John) of the award-winning Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington, a business they established in 1992.
A trained journalist, she worked in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain for magazines as diverse as New Zealand Commercial Fishing and the English Woman’s Weekly, for newspapers and as an editor at the New Zealand Press Association, selecting and processing news stories for the country’s national daily newspapers.
Ruth has served for many years on the committees of the Wellington Children’s Book Association and the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Festival (Wellington region) and is involved in organising author visits, book launches and literary events. She also speaks to teachers and librarians throughout the lower North Island, promoting and recommending books.
A keen supporter of children’s literature, Ruth is an advocate of New Zealand children reading stories that reflect their heritage and identity, and especially enjoys matching a young reader with the right book. She regularly produces newsletters reviewing new books for the bookshop’s school, library and retail customers.
She has an adult son and a teenage daughter.
William Taylor
Lower Hutt-born former educator and mayor of the Borough of Ohakune, William Taylor has been a full-time writer for children and young adults since 1985.
With over 35 novels for children and young adults to his name since 1981, Taylor is one of New Zealand’s most prolific and popular writers with a significant body of his work published internationally, often in translation. His work has received wide critical acclaim. His humorous fiction for 10-12 year olds, Agnes the Sheep, is now considered by the National Library of New Zealand as a 'classic' book for the young, and His recently published memoir, Telling Tales (HarperCollins 2010) has also received significant attention.
William Taylor was President of Honour of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) 2009-10. He was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 for his services to children's literature.
Taylor lives in an isolated and very beautiful spot at Raurimu, near Mount Ruapehu in the central North Island. He has two sons and three grandchildren.
Dee Brooker has always been passionate about books and reading, but it wasn’t until about 20 years ago that she discovered Children’s and Young Adult books. Since then Dee has studied for a National Diploma in Children’s Literature, a Diploma in Information and Library Studies and has become a registered Librarian.
She has worked at three Northland schools. For the last ten years she has been the Librarian at Whangarei Boys’ High School where she promotes books to students and staff, arranges author and illustrator visits and has recently organised a successful ‘Dads ‘n’ Lads’ Literacy evening. Her current area of focus is locating high-interest books to encourage teenage boys to read. These include graphic novels and series fiction. Dee is a member of SLANZA (School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa).
She lives in Whangarei with her husband. She has an adult son and a teenage daughter.
Paora Tibble is the reo Māori writer at Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand. Paora is passionate about reading and he has a special interest in young adult fiction.
For ten years, Paora was an editor of Māori language resources at Learning Media Limited. He has edited reo Māori journals such as He Kohikohinga, Te Tautoko and Te Wharekura.
He has also edited and written for Toi Te Kupu (a reo Māori, full colour, bi-monthly newspaper for secondary school students). Of all his projects at Learning Media, Paora says he had the most fun working on Eke Panuku (a 16 page, reo Māori comic). During his time as an editor he has worked with authors such as Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira and Pēti Nohotima.
Paora was the inaugural Kāpiti Island writer in residence 2008. Paora’s book Ko Anu me Ōna Hoa is popular amongst kura kaupapa Māori children.
Coordinators
Regional Coordinators
www.booksellers.co.nz
National Coordinator (festival)
Mary Gavigan, 24 Perth St, Ngaio, Wellington
Ph: (04) 971 4416 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (04) 971 4416 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Email: maryg@paradise.net.nz
Touring Writers
Sarah Forster, Education Manager, New Zealand Book Council, Level 7 Alan Burns Insurances House, 69 Boulcott St, Wellington.
Ph: 04 499 1569 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 04 499 1569 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, Fax: 04 499 1424
Email: education@bookcouncil.org.nz
Media/Public Relations
Sarah Thornton
Ph: 09 410 0093 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 09 410 0093 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, Mobile: 021 753 744 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 021 753 744 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Email: sarah.thornton@prcomms.com
