Four HUIA books as finalists in chlidren's book awards

8 June 2017

Four HUIA books as finalists in NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

Four HUIA books have been selected as finalists in the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults including a Best First Book.

Fraser Smith's first book 'Awatea's Treasure' was one of five finalists in the Best First Book Award. The story is essentially about a boy's adventures in rural NZ in the country and on the coast in the 1960's. Author Fraser Smith, the Principal of Oturu School just north of Kaitaia, wanted to share his stories of growing up in the great outdoors with children of today who may have never experienced that.

Fraser explains, 'As a school principal I often struggle to find material suitable for rural Māori children and boys especially. These stories suit reading aloud; there are ghost stories, humour and adventure. It is warm and spiritual and at times chilling. These stories have been shaped with children, and have been told and read to children from many schools.'

Three HUIA titles were selected as finalists in the Te Kura Pounamu Award for books written completely in te reo Māori.

Ngārara Huarau by Maxine Hemi is a graphic novel and illustrated by Andrew Burdan, that tells the story of Ngārara Huarau, a taniwha that travels from Hawke’s Bay to Wairarapa in search of his sister, Pari-kawhiti.

Tuna rāua ko Hiriwa, a picture book by Ripeka Takotowai Goddard and illustrated by Kimberley Andrews, tells the story of how the tuna got its silver belly but had to live forever in the dark depths of the river.

Te Kaihanga Māpere, a picture book by Sacha Cotter and translated by Kawata Teepa with illustrations by Josh Morgan, tells the story of a child who dreams of inventing a new marble and having the recipe appear in The Book of Marbles.

Convenor of judges for Te Kura Pounamu Award, Riki-Lee Saua says, “Each finalist stood out for their inspiring and relevant content, stunning illustrations and excellence in the quality of Māori language.”

These HUIA titles are four of the 35 finalists selected from 152 entries submitted for the 2017 awards.

The winners of the 2017 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will be announced on the evening of Monday, 14 August in Wellington.

ENDS

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