Quick Kids, Last Chance to Vote for Best Book

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Quick Kids, Last Chance to Vote for Best Book

School students around the country must hurry to make their opinion count in the hunt for the country’s most popular children’s book.

Voting for the Children’s Choice Award winner in this year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards closes 5pm this Friday. Children can make their selection from the Award’s twenty finalists and they could win $1,000 worth of books for their school library, simply by voting.

They will be choosing their favourite across all categories: picture books, junior and senior fiction and non-fiction. On this level playing field celebrated writer’s books including Jack Lasenby’s Calling the Gods and Barbara Else’s The Travelling Restaurant compete against newcomers like Catherine Foreman’s The Cat’s Pyjamas and Chris Grosz’s Kimble Bent: Malcontent. Colourful, magical, nostalgic and local, there’s a book for every reader to love, but there can only be one winner.

Considered by children’s authors to be one of the highest accolades they can receive in New Zealand for their writing, the Children’s Choice Award attracts up to 35,000 voters each year.

Students can exercise their vote power online at www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz where they’ll also find a full list of finalists or by picking up a voting card from their school, library or local bookshop.

Past winners of the award include Craig Smith and Katz Cowley’s Wonkey Donkey and Mark and Rowan Sommerset’s Baa Baa Smart Sheep.

The winner of the Children’s Choice Award will be announced at the New Zealand Post Book Awards ceremony at the Amora Hotel in Wellington on Wednesday 16 May. They will receive $2000, but they’re not the only one to benefit. Once the votes are tallied, one voting card or online vote is randomly pulled ‘from the hat’. The child whose name appears on this vote will win $1000 worth of Booksellers Tokens for their school library.

While the votes are being counted many of the New Zealand Post Book Award finalists take to the road from Monday 7 May, participating in a nationwide festival of children’s books and literature. They will be visiting schools and libraries around the country in the lead up to the awards ceremony on Wednesday 16 May. A full schedule of events will be available on www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz from late-April.

New Zealand Post is proud to be principal sponsor of the New Zealand Book Awards and the Children’s Book Awards. New Zealand Post is committed to promoting and assisting literacy in our communities and supporting excellence in literature, and to actively encouraging New Zealanders to read and enjoy books. Additional funding for the Awards is provided by Creative New Zealand.

The Awards are overseen by the New Zealand Post Book Awards Governance Group, administered by Booksellers NZ and including representatives of the New Zealand Society of Authors, The Publishers Association of New Zealand, New Zealand Post and Creative New Zealand.

ENDS

• Children’s Choice Voting photo and filming opportunities are available
• Book covers and author images are available

• KEY DATES 2012:
Friday 27 April Children’s Choice Award voting closes
Monday 7 May Festival week begins with finalist writers on tour
Wednesday 16 May Awards ceremony in Wellington – winners announced

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