Best in New Zealand’s Children’s Books

Second Time Around for Two of the Best in New Zealand’s Children’s Books

LIANZA (The Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) announced the winners of its prestigious long-standing Children’s Book Awards at a ceremony in Napier tonight. The winners are:

Esther Glen Award for a distinguished contribution to literature for children: David Hill – Right Where it Hurts (Mallinson Rendel)

Russell Clark Award for a distinguished contribution to illustration: Sarah Wilkins – The Immigrants, text by Alan Bagnall (Mallinson Rendel)

Elsie Locke Award for a distinguished contribution to nonfiction for children: Andrew Crowe – Which New Zealand Insect? (Penguin Books)

Te Kura Pounamu Award for a distinguished contribution for children in te reo Maori: Ngareta Gabel – Tekiteora, Kei Hea o Hu? (Huia Publishers)

David Hill, who lives in Taranaki, is a full-time author, reviewer and newspaper columnist. A previous book, Fat, Four-Eyed and Useless won the 1998 Esther Glen award.

Sarah Wilkins is a design graduate from Wellington Polytechnic. This is her first picture book.

Andrew Crowe is one of New Zealand’s foremost specialists in New Zealand’s native flora and fauna and travels New Zealand with a van and camera researching subjects for his books. Which New Zealand Insect? was also shortlisted in the Environment category of the 2003 Montana Book Awards. Andrew Crowe’s Life-Size Guide to Native Trees won the 1998 Young People’s Non-Fiction (now Elsie Locke) Award.

Ngareta Gabel is a teacher living in Kawakawa, North Auckland. Tekiteora, Kei Hea o Hu? is her first book.

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 and Diana Noonan.

The Te Kura Pounamu was established in 1996 for literature written in Te Reo Mäori, and previous recipients include Katerina Mataira, Mere Clarke and Merito Tawhara.

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 of $1000

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