Children’s Book Awards Scooped By Newcomers

PRESTIGIOUS LIANZA (Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS SCOOPED BY NEWCOMERS

The LIANZA Children’s Book Awards were presented at a ceremony at the LIANZA Conference in Wellington yesterday. The winners are:

Esther Glen Award for ‘the most distinguished contribution to literature for children’ - Alison Robertson – Knocked for Six (Scholastic)

Russell Clark Award for ‘the most distinguished illustrations for a children’s book – Anton Petrov – A Book of Pacific Lullabies (HarperCollins)

Elsie Locke Award for ‘a distinguished contribution to non-fiction for children’ – Dr Simon Pollard – I Am a Spider (Reed Publishing)

Te Kura Pounamu for ‘a distinguished contribution written in Te Reo Maori for children’– Dot Meharry – Nga Kutai Me Nga Pipi (Reed Publishing)

Knocked for Six is Alison Robertson’s first book. Her manuscript for this book received the Children’s Literature Foundation of New Zealand’s Tom Fitzgibbon Award 2000, for a children’s book by an unpublished writer.

A Book of Pacific Lullabies is one of two books illustrated by Anton Petrov that were shortlisted for the Russell Clark Award, demonstrating the formidable talent of this young illustrator, born in the USSR and who has lived in Hungary and South Africa before coming to New Zealand.

I Am a Spider is the first children’s book by noted naturalist Dr Simon Pollard, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at Canterbury Museum, whose remarkable photographs are an integral part of this book. Dr Pollard travels world-wide lecturing on natural history as well as working as a research and script consultant for natural history documentaries. His photographs appear in magazines such as National Geographic and Time Magazine.

Nga Kutai Me Nga Pipi by Dot Meharry is an amusing story about the struggle between mussels, pipi and predatory whales. Dot Meharry’s previous books have been written for the emergent reader school market.

The LIANZA awards are given each year in recognition of the quality of writing and illustration in New Zealand books for children published in the previous year. The Esther Glen award, named after the children’s writer and journalist, was first established in 1944, and previous recipients include AW Reed, Maurice Duggan, Margaret Mahy, Tessa Duder and Maurice Gee. The Russell Clark Award , was established in 1976 in honour of the notable New Zealand illustrator and artist, and previous recipients include Gavin Bishop, Robyn Belton, Chris Gaskin and Bob Kerr.

The Elsie Locke Award (previously known as the Young People’s Non-Fiction Award) was established in 1987, and renamed in 2002 to commemorate the work of Elsie Locke (1912 – 2001), with previous recipients including Kim Westerskov, Robyn Kahukiwa, Laura Ranger, Diana Noonan and Andrew Crowe.

The Te Kura Pounamu was established in 1996 for literature written in Te Reo Maori, and previous recipients include Katerina Mataira, Mere Clark and Merito Tawharo.

The LIANZA Children’s Book awards are regarded as New Zealand’s most prestigious children’s book awards by writers and illustrators throughout New Zealand. Each award consists of a medal/taonga and a monetary prize

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