The finalists in the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards were announced this morning. There is a great selection of books this year, by some of our best authors and illustrators. I think that the picture book and junior fiction categories are particularly strong and the judges have got a huge job ahead of them. I’m aiming to read all of the finalists before the week of the Festival this year so I’ll be sharing my thoughts on each book here. I’m also the Canterbury coordinator of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Festival and we’ve got some great events in the pipeline.
What are your favourites?
Picture Book
A Great Cake, written and illustrated by Tina Matthews- Melu, written by Kyle Mewburn and illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly
- Mister Whistler, written by Margaret Mahy and illustrated by Gavin Bishop
- Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum, written and illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton
- Remember that November, written by Jennifer Beck and illustrated by Lindy Fisher
Junior Fiction
The ACB with Honora Lee, written by Kate De Goldi and illustrated by Gregory O’Brien- The Queen and the Nobody Boy by Barbara Else
- My Brother’s War by David Hill
- Red Rocks by Rachael King
- Uncle Trev and His Whistling Bull by Jack Lasenby
Young Adult Fiction
Earth Dragon, Fire Hare by Ken Catran- Into the River by Ted Dawe
- The Nature of Ash by Mandy Hager
- Reach by Hugh Brown
- Snakes and Ladders by Mary-anne Scott
Non Fiction
100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa by Simon Morton and Riria Hotere- At the Beach: Explore and discover the New Zealand seashore by Ned Barraud and Gillian Chandler
- Kiwi: the real story by Annemarie Florian and Heather Hunt
- Taketakerau, The Millenium Tree by Marnie Anstis, Patricia Howitt and Kelly Spencer
My Best Friends Are Books 
Kia ora – just found your blog while I was looking to see if any of the finalists for the NZ Post Awards had trailers! I’m one of the Auckland coordinators (Danielle) and so far, my personal favourite has been Hugh Brown’s ‘Reach’. As a bit of a geek girl who grew up some of the time in New Plymouth – where my grandparents had a garden something like Will’s – it really rang true to me. I loved the picture he painted of Will’s family life, loved Will’s imagination and his struggle to figure out the mysteries of talking to people and making friends, loved the author’s way with words. I’m reading all of the finalists, too, and so far it’s been a really interesting and enjoyable mix! Looking forward to taking my kids to the beach for some exploring with ‘At the beach’, too. Thanks for all the great work you put into this blog, looking forward to exploring this as well 🙂
Thanks Danielle. It’s great to be part of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Festival and I’m looking forward to seeing all the fantastic events we all have planned. I haven’t read Reach yet but my goal is to read all the finalists by the time of the Festival in June. There certainly is a great range of books this year.
Good luck for your Festival preparations 🙂