book awards

The 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards Finalists

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nzpcba_new_logoThe 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

  • mr-whistler-cover-working-final-2.inddA 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

The 2013 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlists

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The shortlists for the 2013 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal were announced earlier this week in the UK.  There are some impressive titles on the shortlists and I’ll have to get reading to catch up on the ones that I haven’t already read.  I’m glad to see some of my favourite books on the lists, including Wonder, Oh No, George! and I Want My Hat Back.  Check out the lists below and I’d love to know what your favourites are.

 The CILIP Carnegie Medal 2013 shortlist in full:

  • WonderThe Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan, Bloomsbury
  • A Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle, Marion Lloyd Books
  • Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner, Hot Key Books
  • In Darkness by Nick Lake, Bloomsbury
  • Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Bodley Head
  • Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick, Indigo
  • A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton, David Fickling Books
  • Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Electric Monkey
About the CILIP Carnegie Medal

The Carnegie Medal, awarded annually, was established in 1936, in memory of the Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835 – 1919). A self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA, Carnegie’s experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that “If ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries.” He set up more than 2,800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries.


The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2013 shortlist in full:
  • Oh No GeorgeLunchtime by Rebecca Cobb, Macmillan Children’s Books
  • Again! by Emily Gravett, Macmillan Children’s Books
  • Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton, Walker Books
  • I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, Walker Books
  • Pirates ‘n’ Pistols by Chris Mould, Hodder Children’s Books
  • King Jack and the Dragon by Helen Oxenbury (illustrator) and Peter Bently (author), Puffin Books
  • Black Dog by Levi Pinfold, Templar Publishing
  • Just Ducks! by Salvatore Rubbino (illustrator) and Nicola Davies (author), Walker Books

About the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955, for distinguished illustration in a book for children. Named after the popular nineteenth century artist known for her beautiful children’s illustrations and designs, the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

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

Winners of the 2013 ALA Youth Media Awards

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It was an exciting time earlier this morning in the US when the winners of the 2013 ALA Youth Media Awards were announced.  The Youth Media Awards include the prestigious Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal and the Printz Award.

Congratulations to all the winners!  I think it’s the first time that I’ve read and loved the winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Medal so I’m very pleased that they won.  Here are the winners and honour books:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:

There were three Newbery Honour Books announced too:

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

This Is Not My Hat
There were five Caldecott Honour Books announced too:
Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:
indarkness
There were four Printz Honour Books announced too:
For more information about the awards and the winners of the other book awards check out this article http://www.sacbee.com/2013/01/28/5146146/american-library-association-announces.html.

2012 Cybils Book Awards Finalists

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I mentioned a couple of months ago about how I had been selected as a round 2 judge for the Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy Category of the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards, or the Cybils.  The finalists have been announced today and now my work begins.  Here are the finalists in my category:

The only one I’ve already read (and totally love!) is Every Day by David Levithan, so I’m really looking forward to losing myself in the new worlds of these books over the next month.  The winner of each category will be announced on 14 February.

You can find out about the finalists in each category on the Cybils website, cybils.com.  I was pleased to see some of my other favourite books of 2012 as finalists, including The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (Fantasy and Science Fiction – Middle Grade/Elementary) and Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Middle Grade Fiction).

Have you read any of the YA Fantasy and Science Fiction finalists? What are your favourite finalists?

The Cybils 2012 – Vote for your favourite books now!

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The Cybils are awards given each year by bloggers for the year’s best children’s and young adult titles. I’m lucky enough this year to be a round 2 judge for the Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy category, which means I get to help choose the top book in this category for 2012.  It’s a really exciting opportunity and I’m looking forward to reading all the shortlisted books when they’re announced on 1 January 2013.

You can get involved by voting for your favourite in each category – Book Apps, Easy Readers/Short Chapter Books, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Fiction, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Non-Fiction: Middle Grade and Young Adult, Poetry, and Young Adult Fiction.  You can vote from today until 15 October and any English or bilingual books published in the U.S. or Canada between Oct. 16, 2011 and Oct. 15, 2012 are eligible.

Anyone can vote and all you have to do to vote is go to www.cybils.com and fill out the form.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 LIANZA Children’s Book Awards

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The winners of the 2012 LIANZA Children’s Book Awards were announced in Wellington last night.  The LIANZA Children’s Book Awards are awarded each year by Children’s Librarians for outstanding books for children and young people.  Here are the winners in each category:

LIANZA Junior Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal
The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else, (GECKO Press).

LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Award
Pyre of Queens by David Hair, (Penguin NZ)

LIANZA Illustration Award – Russell Clark Award
Rāhui  by Chris Szekely and Malcolm Ross, (Huia).

LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal
Nice Day for a War by Chris Slane and Matt Elliott, illustrated by Chris Slane (HarperCollins Publishers (NZ) Ltd).

Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)
Ngā Taniwha i te-Whanga-nui-a-Tara by Moira Wairama and Bruce Potter, (Penguin NZ).

The winner of each category was awarded a medal or taonga and $1,000.

Librarians’ Choice Award
Rāhui  by Chris Szekely and Malcolm Ross, (Huia).

For more information about the awards see the LIANZA website.

 

Congratulations Patrick Ness and Jim Kay!

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I was unbelievably happy to wake up to the news this morning that A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and illustrated by Jim Kay has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal.  To celebrate I thought I’d re-post my review of A Monster Calls (you’ll probably gather that I think it is a very deserving winner) and I’m giving away 2 hardback copies of this amazing book.  Keep reading to find out why I LOVE A Monster Calls.

It’s no secret that I think Patrick Ness is a brilliant author (I’ve written many blog posts about it).  His Chaos Walking Trilogy is one of those stories that really struck a chord with me and and the characters and their world will stay with me for a long time.  The books in the trilogy have won various awards in the world of children’s literature, including the BookTrust Teenage Prize, the Guardian Award, the Costa Book Award, most recently the final book, Monsters of Men won the prestigious Carnegie Medal.  When the Chaos Walking Trilogy came to an end last year, I was looking forward to reading whatever Patrick Nesswrote next and thankfully I didn’t have to wait very long.

Patrick’s next project was to write a story based on the ideas of another brilliant author, Siobhan Dowd, who had passed away from breast cancer in 2007.  Siobhan had the characters, premise and beginning and it was up to Patrick to turn it into a story.   Being both a fan of Patrick’s and Siobhan’s writing I eagerly anticipated their story, called A Monster Calls.  And boy, what a story it is!  Night after night, Connor is woken by the same nightmare, “the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming.  The one with the hands slipping from his grasp, no matter who hard he tried to hold on.”  It is one night, after waking from this nightmare, that the monster arrives, twisting to life from the yew tree in the graveyard.  The monster comes to offer Connor a deal; it will tell Connor three stories, but then he must tell the monster a fourth story, and it must be the truth.  However, Connor’s mum is very sick and the truth is the thing that he fears the worst.

I really can’t explain how amazing A Monster Calls is.  Before you even start reading the book, you just need a few minutes to marvel at how beautiful it is.  Walker Books have put so much love into the design, from the dust-jacket and the cover,  to the stunning illustrations spread throughout the book by the very talented Jim Kay.  The story itself is breathtaking and you’ll go on a roller-coaster of emotion as the monster guides Connor towards the truth.  I especially liked the three stories that the monster tells and I hope that Patrick Ness writes more short stories like these.  Grab a copy of A Monster Calls from the library now.  Trust me, you won’t regret it.

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