competition

Win When We Wake signed by Karen Healey

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Last Friday we were lucky enough to host Karen Healey in Christchurch as part of NZ Book Month.  Karen talked about her latest book, When We Wake, and the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ stories that inspired her.  Karen is a great speaker, as well as an amazing writer, so it was a thoroughly entertaining hour.  You can read my review of When We Wake here on the blog.

I have a copy of When We Wake, signed by Karen Healey, to give away.  To get into the draw just enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Monday 8 April (NZ and Australia only).

Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner is Rachel Crewe.

Hang in There Bozo by Lauren Child

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You’ve heard of Bear Grylls and James Bond, right? Well they have nothing on ever-resourceful spy Ruby Redfort.  For this year’s World Book Day, Lauren Child (creator of Ruby Redfort and Clarice Bean) wrote Hang in There Bozo: The Ruby Redfort Emergency Survival Guide for Some Tricky Predicaments.  It’s the cheapest and most accessible survival guide you’ll ever read.

Ruby Redfort: secret agent, detective, thirteen-year-old kid. And now… survival expert.

It’s not always possible to skip around smelling roses, ’cos sometimes you’re too busy gripping onto the cliff edge by your fingernails. But 99 times out of 100 it’s worth hanging in there bozo: just as things can get worse so too can they get a whole lot better. In this handy pocket-sized book, Ruby will give you the low-down on how to survive a whole bunch of tricky situations. So long as you keep a cool head, buster, you can make it out of there alive …

Hang in There Bozo is the ultimate survival guide, packed with tips and tricks from Ruby Redfort herself.  If you you’d like to know how to survive in the wild, but can’t stand Bear Grylls, you need to read this book, written in Ruby’s unique voice.  If you’ve read any of Lauren Child’s Ruby Redfort books you’ll know that Ruby likes to use the words ‘bozo’ and ‘buster’ a lot, and there are rules that she lives by.  This is all here in this book, along with heaps of really great survival tips like:

  • How to stay calm in a life-and-death situation
  • How to make a fire and find water
  • How to navigate using the stars or a compass
  • What to do if you’re lost in the desert or marooned at sea
  • How to charm a snake – ‘Don’t even go there buster’
  • What to do if you should meet a bear – ‘Wish you hadn’t’
  • Dealing with individuals who you know are dangerously dull

The best thing about this book is that it’s pocket sized so you can take it everywhere (especially when you go camping) and it’s only $4.99.  It has to be the cheapest, but most awesome, survival guide ever!

Win a New Zealand Kids Book Pack

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It’s the last week of NZ Book Month for 2013.  I always enjoy NZ Book Month because I love reading books by our wonderful New Zealand authors and illustrators.  I hope you’ve read some great NZ books this month and enjoyed my Fast Five Questions with NZ authors and illustrators.

To finish NZ Book Month I’m giving away a New Zealand Kids Book Pack, thanks to Scholastic New Zealand.  The pack includes:

  • The Silly Goat Gruff by Scott Tulloch
  • A Winter’s Day in 1939 by Melinda Szymanik
  • Dinosaur Rescue: Salto-scaredypus by Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley
  • Ransomwood by Sheryl Jordan
  • Scrap: Tale of a Blond Puppy by Vince Ford
  • Scrap: Oh My Dog! by Vince Ford

To get in the draw just leave a comment (with your name and email address) telling me about a New Zealand book you’ve read and loved this NZ Book Month.  Competition closes Sunday 31 March (NZ only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winner is the Rodgers-Foran family.  I hope you enjoy your books!

Win Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

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Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made is the first book in the hilarious new series by Stephan Pastis.  It’s perfect for those kids who love a good laugh, especially fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  You can read my review here on the blog and check out the very funny book trailers.

Thanks to the wonderful people at Walker Books Australia I have 3 copies of Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made to give away. They’re nice hardback books that will survive being handed around lots of kids.  All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Wednesday 27 March (Australia and New Zealand only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Ash, Lynley and Chris.

Win the award-winning 13th Horseman by Barry Hutchison

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I’m very excited to announce that Barry Hutchison’s hilarious fantasy, The 13th Horseman, has won the Older Reader’s category of the Scottish Children’s Book Awards.  I was really hoping that it would win as it’s such a fantastic book and Barry’s a great author.  When The 13th Horseman was released last year Barry made some very cool videos for the launch that we had in Christchurch. You can watch the videos and read my review of The 13th Horseman here on the blog.

To celebrate Barry’s award win I’m giving away 2 copies of The 13th Horseman.  All you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Friday 15 March (International).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Laraine and Amelia

Win The Seven Wonders: The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis

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Seven Wonders is the new action-packed adventure series from Peter Lerangis (one of the creators of The 39 Clues series). You can read my review of the first book, The Colossus Rises, here on the blog.  I loved it and can’t wait for the next installment.

Thanks to HarperCollins New Zealand I have 2 copies of Seven Wonders: The Colossus Rises to give away.  All you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Competition closes Wednesday 13 March (NZ only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Jean and Lucia.

Win a signed Spook’s Apprentice book

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2013-02-21 07.40.17We were lucky enough to have Spook’s Apprentice author, Joseph Delaney, visit us in Christchurch this week.  I’ve been a huge fan of Joseph’s ever since the very first book in the series was released in 2004 so it was great to hear all about the series from the man himself.  It was great to watch the children in the audience reacting to Joseph’s stories and the creepy pictures from his books.

Thanks to Random House New Zealand and Joseph Delaney I have 4 signed Spook’s books to give away.  Four lucky readers will win a signed book each.  All you have to do to get in the draw is enter your name and email address, and answer this question: Who is your favourite character or creature of the dark in the Spook’s series? Competition closes Thursday 28 February (NZ only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  The winners are Ali, Loraine, Julia and Tokhuor.

Win a John Green book pack

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John Green is one of my favourite authors and I’ve loved everything he has written.  His latest book, The Fault in Our Stars, was one of my favourite books of 2012 and was named the best book of the year in Time Magazine.  As well as an author, he’s one half of the awesome VlogBrothers on YouTube.  

John is a fairly under-appreciated author here in New Zealand (bookshops have only just started stocking his books and he has written 4 books since 2005) and I really think everyone should read at least one of his books.  If you read one you’ll be hooked on his funny, moving stories and memorable characters.

I have a copy of two of John’s earlier books, An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns, to give away.  To get in the draw all you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below and tell me the name of John’s first book.  Competition closes Monday 25 February (New Zealand and Australia only).

Thanks to everyone who entered.  This competition is now closed.  The winner was Kirsten.

Win The Bird King: An Artist’s Notebook by Shaun Tan

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A new book of sketches, artwork, and personal reflection from the brilliant mind of award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator Shaun Tan.

“I’m often wary of using the word ‘inspiration’ to introduce my work — it sounds too much like a sun shower from the heavens, absorbed by a passive individual enjoying an especially receptive moment. While that may be the case on rare occasions, the reality is usually far more prosaic. Staring at a blank piece of paper, I can’t think of anything original. I feel utterly uninspired and unreceptive. It’s the familiar malaise of ‘artist’s block’ and in such circumstances there is only one thing to do: just start drawing.” — Shaun Tan.

And when Shaun Tan starts drawing, the results are stunning. In THE BIRD KING: AN ARTIST’S NOTEBOOK, we find a window into the creative process: the stops and starts, the ideas that never took off, and the ones that grew into something much bigger. Fans of THE ARRIVAL will recognize the quirky, surreal sensibility that is so distinctly Shaun Tan in this stunning collection, and gain insight into how his many gorgeous books were made.

Due to my own mistake (I thought this was a new book, but it just has a slightly different title and cover from the one I got a while ago) I have a copy of this wonderful book to give away.  All you have to do to get in the draw is leave a comment telling me which Shaun Tan book is your favourite (mine is Tales from Outer Suburbia).  Competition closes Thursday 14 February (NZ only).

 

Win Zom-B Underground by Darren Shan

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Zom-B Underground is the 2nd gore-filled Zom-B series and it takes you deeper inside Darren Shan’s zombie-infested world.  If you know any Darren Shan fans, or anyone who likes zombies or horror in general, the Zom-B series is fantastic.  You can read my review here on the blog (Warning: may contain spoilers).

I’ve got a copy of Zom-B Underground to give away to one lucky reader.  All you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below.  Entries close Wednesday 23 January (NZ only).

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