Anika Moa, Gavin Bishop and Hinemoa Elder among Children and Young Adults Book Awards finalists
Winners will be in the running for the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award.
Musician and broadcaster Anika Moa, youth psychiatrist Hinemoa Elder, notable author and illustrator Gavin Bishop, critically-acclaimed writer Witi Ihimaera, award-winning writer Ruth Paul and journalist Miriama Kamo are among the 32 shortlisted for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
This year’s two judging panels – a bilingual English and Māori panel and a separate Te Kura Pounamu panel to judge titles written in te reo Māori – pored over 156 entries to decide who would make it into the six main categories (picture book, junior fiction, young adult fiction, non-fiction, illustration and te reo Māori).
From top left, clockwise, The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs (by Anika Moa), You Can't Pat a Fish (Ruth Paul), A Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara (by Witi Ihimaera), Ko ngā Whetū Kai o Matariki, ko Tupuānuku rāua ko Tupuārangi (by Miriama Kamo), Titiro Look (by Gavin Bishop), and Dear Moko: Māori Wisdom for our Young Ones (by Hinemoa Elder).
Supplied / New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
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“Among the finalist books, big ideas from our past, present and possible dystopian futures are considered in absorbing and thoughtful ways, providing springboards for deeper discussion," says convenor of judges Feana Tu‘akoi.
"Themes include identity, connection, mental health, our histories, traditional wisdom, indigenous languages, and the importance of being exactly who we are."
Students from 51 schools across the country were also given guidelines and review templates to pitch into the judging.
The winners, who take home $8500 and go into the running for the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, will be announced at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on 13 August.
The judges will also award a ‘Best First Book’ prize of $2500 to a previously unpublished author or illustrator.
The full list of finalists
The BookHub Picture Book Award
- Beddy Bye Time in the Kōwhai Tree, Juliette MacIver, illustrated by Lily Uivel (Scholastic New Zealand)
- Mataali‘i, Dahlia Malaeulu (Vaivase Tai, Sinamoga), illustrated by Darcy Solia (Mila's Books)
- Ten Nosey Weka, Kate Preece, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Bateman Books)
- Titiro Look, Gavin Bishop (Tainui, Ngāti Awa), translated by Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu) (Gecko Press,Lerner Publishing Group)
- You Can't Pat a Fish, Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia)
Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award
- Brown Bird, Jane Arthur (Penguin Random House New Zealand)
- Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat, Li Chen (Penguin Random House New Zealand)
- The Apprentice Witnesser, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)
- The Raven's Eye Runaways, Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin)
- Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff, Rachael King, illustrated by Phoebe Morris (Allen & Unwin)
Young Adult Fiction Award
- Bear, Kiri Lightfoot, illustrated by Pippa Keel Situ (Allen & Unwin)
- Gracehopper, Mandy Hager (One Tree House)
- Migration, Steph Matuku (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga) (Huia Publishers)
- The Mess of Our Lives, Mary-anne Scott (One Tree House)
- The Paradise Generation, Sanna Thompson (umop apisdn press)
Elsie Locke Award for non-fiction
- Black Magic, David Riley, illustrated by Munro Te Whata (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Makefu) (Reading Warrior)
- Dear Moko: Māori Wisdom for our Young Ones, Hinemoa Elder (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāpuhi nui tonu) (Penguin Random House New Zealand)
- Ruru: Night Hunter, Katie Furze, illustrated by Ned Barraud (Scholastic New Zealand)
- The Treaty of Waitangi, Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Kāi Tahu) (Oratia Books)
- Tui Pea Luva, by Mele Tonga Grant, illustrated by Luca Walton (Mila's Books)
Russell Clark Award for illustration
- Alice and the Strange Bird, Isaac du Toit (Isaac du Toit)
- Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro, illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa), written by Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki) (Huia Publishers)
- Poem for Ataahua, illustrated by Sarah Wilkins, written by Alistair Teariki Campbell (Reading Warrior)
- Sad Sushi, Anna Aldridge (Anna Aldridge)
- You Can't Pat a Fish, Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia)
Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Awards
- A Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara, Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Porou), illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu), translated by Hēni Jacob (Ngāti Raukawa) (Penguin Random House New Zealand)
- *Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro, Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki), illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) (Huia Publishers)
- Ka mātoro a Whetū rāua ko Kohu i Rotorua, Hayley Elliott-Kernot, translated by Te Ingo Ngaia (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Te Ātiawa, Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whānau-a-Karuai ) (Round Door Design)
- Ko ngā Whetū Kai o Matariki, ko Tupuānuku rāua ko Tupuārangi, Miriama Kamo (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga), illustrated by Zak Waipara (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata), translated by Ariana Stevens (Poutini Ngāi Tahu) (Scholastic New Zealand)
- *Ngā Kupenga a Nanny Rina, Qiane Matata-Sipu (Te Waiohua, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao, Cook Islands), illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Penguin Random House New Zealand)
* Indicates a finalist book originally written in te reo Māori
NZSA Best First Book Award
- Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie, Shelley Burne-Field (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa, Sāmoa) (Allen & Unwin)
- Play Wild, Rachel Clare (Bateman Books)
- The Raven's Eye Runaways, Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin)
- The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs, Anika Moa (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri), illustrated by Rebecca ter Borg (Penguin Random House New Zealand)
- The Writing Desk, Di Morris (Bateman Books)
