Illustrators

Win the award-winning A Monster Calls

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The very deserving winner of both the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal is A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay.  Patrick Ness is one of my all-time favourite authors and I absolutely LOVED A Monster Calls.  It’s a beautiful, heart-breaking story and was probably my favourite book of 2011.

If you haven’t already read A Monster Calls or you loved it and want to own a copy you can win one of 2 copies that I’m giving away.  All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me your favourite childrens or young adults book.  Competition closes Friday 22 June (International).

Who are your picks for the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medal?

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The winners of the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal are announced this Friday (NZ time).  Who do you want to win?  It’s so hard to pick but mine are My Name is Mina by David Almond (Carnegie) and A Monster Calls illustrated by Jim Kay (Kate Greenaway).

Carnegie Medal

     

     

  

Kate Greenaway Medal

     

     

  

The LIANZA Children’s Book Award 2012 Finalists

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The shortlist for the 2012 LIANZA Children’s Book Awards were announced last week.  Awarded by Librarians for outstanding children’s literature in New Zealand, the LIANZA Awards are for excellence in junior fiction, young adult fiction, illustration, non-fiction and te reo Māori.  There are a great bunch of finalist books this year including some fantastic books that weren’t on the NZ Post Children’s Book Awards shortlist.  I was especially pleased to see Des Hunt’s The Peco Incident, Susan Brocker’s The Wolf in the Wardrobe, and Juliette MacIver and Sarah Davis’ Marmaduke Duck and Bernadette Bear in the shortlist.  What are your favourites?

LIANZA Junior Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal

  • The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else
  • The Peco Incident by Des Hunt
  • The Wolf in the Wardrobe by Susan Brocker
  • Super Finn by Leonie Agnew
  • The Flytrap Snaps; Book One in The Fly Papers by Johanna Knox


LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Award

  • The Shattering by Karen Healey
  • Pyre of Queens by David Hair
  • Dirt Bomb by Fleur Beale
  • The Bridge by Jane Higgins
  • Recon Team Angel: Assault by Brian Falkner

LIANZA Illustration Award – Russell Clark Award

  • Rāhui (Māori ed) by Chris Szekely and Malcolm Ross
  • The Call of the Kokako by Maria Gill and Heather Arnold
  • Fantails Quilt by Gay Hay and Margaret Tolland
  • Bruiser by Gavin Bishop
  • Marmaduke Duck and Bernadette Bear by Juliette MacIver and Sarah Davis
  • Waiting for Later by Tina Matthews


LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal

  • Digging up the Past: Archaeology for the Young & Curious by David Veart
  • Nice Day for a War by Chris Slane and Matt Elliott
  • The Call of the Kokako by Maria Gill and Heather Arnold
  • New Zealand Hall of Fame: 50 Remarkable Kiwis by Maria Gill and Bruce Potter

Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)

  • Rāhui (Māori ed) by Chris Szekely and Malcolm Ross, translated by Brian Morris 
  • Te Poiwhana by Te Kauhoe Wano and Andrew Burdan
  • Ihenga by Aunty Bea – Piatarihi Tui Yates and Katherine Quin Merewether
  • Kei Wareware Tātou by Feana Tu’akoi and Elspeth Alix Batt, translated by Katerina Mataira
  • Nga Taniwha i Te-Whanga-nui-a-Tara by Moira Wairama and Bruce Potter

Show Me a Story: Why Picture Books Matter

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I’ve loved picture books from a young age.  I still remember those ones that my parents read to me when I was little, especially books by Janet and Allen Ahlberg like Each Peach Pear Plum.  When I was at school the wonderful librarians at my local public library introduced me to more sophisticated picture books, like Gary Crew’s The Water Tower. Now, as a librarian I read lots of picture books every week, both for my own enjoyment and to share with children in the library.  In New Zealand we don’t have many book festivals or events where we can meet authors and illustrators and hear about their work, but I always find it fascinating to hear about their passion for what they do and their reasons for creating a particular story.  A fascinating new book from Candlewick Press collects interviews with the world’s best illustrators and takes us inside their incredible minds.

Show Me a Story: Why Picture Books Matter features interviews with 21 of the world’s best illustrators, including Eric Carle, Maurice Sendak, Helen Oxenbury, Mo Willems, and Quentin Blake.  Leonard S. Marcus (the editor of the book and the interviewer) takes you inside the minds of these extremely talented artists to find out why they do what they do, what influences them, and the truth behind the fiction.  Inside this entertaining and enthralling book you’ll discover how Quentin Blake came to be Roald Dahl’s illustrator, which author introduced Eric Carle to the world of picture books, and what Mo Willems learned from Charles Schulz.  As well as the interviews there are also a series of beautiful full-colour plates, showing each illustrators artistic process from sketch to final product.  Whether you’re a teacher, librarian, bookseller, student, or a lover of children’s literature Show Me a Story is a wonderful book and useful resource that you’ll delve into again and again.