Kids Blog

The LIANZA (Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa) children’s book awards finalists have been announced.

Basically these are New Zealand librarians recognising the best books that have been published for children and teens in the last year.

The awards are separated up into 5 categories: best junior fiction (the top book wins the Esther Glen Medal), best illustration (The winner gets the Russell Clark Award), best non-fiction (the winner gets the Elsie Locke Award), best book written in te reo Maori (Te Kura Pounamu Award), and there is also a prize for the top teen book too.

The finalists for each category have just been announced (check them out below). A winner will be chosen from the finalists in each category, which will be announced at a sparkly awards ceremony on August 5th in Wellington.

Hot fact: The Esther Glen Medal for Junior Fiction is the oldest book award in New Zealand. It was first awarded in 1945 – that’s 68 years ago!

LIANZA Junior Fiction Award – Esther Glen Medal

The Queen and the Nobody Boy: A tale of Fontania by Barbara Else

The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker

When Empire Calls by Ken Catran

Red Rocks by Rachael King

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate de Goldi

Lightning Strikes: The Slice by Rose Quilter (We don’t have this in the libraries yet. Check back later)

LIANZA Illustration Award – Russell Clark Award

The Dragon Hunters by James Russell, illustrated by Link Choi

Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Gavin Bishop

Kiwi: The Real Story by Annemarie Florian, illustrated by Heather Hunt

Blue Gnu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Daron Parton

Melu byKyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly

A Great Cake by Tina Matthews

LIANZA Non Fiction Award – Elsie Locke Medal

At the Beach: Explore & Discover the New Zealand Seashore by Ned Barraud and Gillian Candler

Eruption! Discovering New Zealand Volcanoes by Maria Gill

100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa by Simon Morton and Riria Hotere,

Te Kura Pounamu (te reo Māori)

Hautipua Rererangi story by Julian Arahanga, illustrated by Andrew Burdan

Ngā Waituhi o Rēhua by Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira

Arohanui by Huia Publishers, illustrated Andrew Burdan (Sorry, we don’t have this one in our libraries yet)

Ko Meru by Kyle Mewburn, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly  (Sorry, we don’t have this one in our libraries yet)

Taea ngā whetū by Dawn McMillan, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illustrated by Keinyo White

It doesn’t matter if you are a Dr Seuss fan or not (but really – who isn’t a Dr Seuss fan??!!) you need to check out his website!

Seussville is the home of everything Dr Seuss, from the Cat in the Hat, to Yertle the Turtle (my personal favourite).

Along with checking out all the Dr Seuss books, you can play games, download and print activity sheets, find out about all the many Dr Seuss characters and Dr Seuss himself (did you know his real name was Theodore Geisel?). There are even recipes, crafts and activities you can do at home.

This fun, noisy and interactive site is really worth checking out!

 What are some of your favourite author/book websites?

Do you own books at home? How do you keep them organised?

One thing you can do is name your books, and you can do this by using book plates. Book plates are a label that you stick inside the front cover of the book to tell people who it belongs to. There is a really cool website that has HEAPS of book plates that you can print off and stick in your books. Check out My Home Library – you’ll find small, medium and large book plates, and lots of them in colour. The coolest bit is that many of them have been designed by favourite and well-known illustrators (like Quentin Blake!).

Here are some of my favs:

There are even bookmarks you can print off. Have fun, but remember – don’t put book plates in our library books, only the ones you own at home.

The school holidays are here! These are the FREE and fun things you can do at libraries today:

Special Event: Author and Illustrator visit!

Lucas and Jutta Chisholm, Author and Illustrator of the awesome book ‘Meet Mr. Mr Sunny’, are visiting to run fun activities with you. Listen to this cool book being read aloud, find out all about how to write books and even draw and make your own book character. Cool!

Wellington Central Library, 11am. No bookings required, suitable for 5-12 year olds. Free.

Special Event: Kiwana!

Read and act out one of Margaret Mahy’s most popular books – Down the Back of the Chair and more fun-filled Kiwiana activities. The lovely librarians have some fun tricks up their sleeves for this one.

Johnsonville Library, 10.30am. No bookings required, suitable for 5-12 year olds. Free.

Storytimes:

Don’t forget our fun and popular storytimes during the school holidays.

Karori Library at 10.30am

Tawa Library at 10.30am

Kilbirnie Library at 10.30am

Author Julia Donaldson has written many awesome books, that you’ll probably know – The Gruffalo, The Smartest Giant in Town and Room on the Broom,  and has now written a really cool poem about libraries and the special places they are:

Everyone is welcome to walk through the door.

It really doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor.

There are books in boxes and books on shelves.

They’re free for you to borrow, so help yourselves.

Come and meet your heroes, old and new,

From William the Conqueror to Winnie the Pooh.

You can look into the Mirror or read The Times,

Or bring along a toddler to chant some rhymes.

The librarian’s a friend who loves to lend,

So see if there’s a book that she can recommend.

Read that book, and if you’re bitten

You can borrow all the other ones the author’s written.

Are you into battles or biography?

Are you keen on gerbils or geography?

Gardening or ghosts? Sharks or science fiction?

There’s something here for everyone, whatever your addiction.

There are students revising, deep in concentration,

And school kids doing projects, finding inspiration.

Over in the corner there’s a table with seating,

So come along and join in the Book Club meeting.

Yes, come to the library! Browse and borrow,

And help make sure it’ll still be here tomorrow.

Here are the list on Non-Fiction finalists for the New Zealand post Children’s Book Awards:

100 Amazing Tales From Aotearoa by Simon Morton & Riria Hotere

Based on the TVNZ television series “Tales from Te Papa” and contains 2 DVDs including the original TV series. Find out about quirky NZ stories featuring some strange and precious artifacts.

Kiwi: the real story by by Annemarie Florian & Heather Hunt

With lots of illustrations a bold rhythmic verse describes the North Island brown kiwi in action in the bush, and a non-fiction narrative provides readers with added insight into kiwi biology and behaviour

Taketakerau, The Millennium Tree by Marnie Anstis, Patricia Howitt & Kelly Spencer

The story of a child who listens to Koro and Grandma as they weave a tale about the life and times of the ancient pūriri tree Taketakerau, the settlement and development of New Zealand, and world events that happened over the last 2000 years

At the Beach: Explore & discover the New Zealand seashore by Ned Barraud & Gillian Candler

Find out all about the New Zealand seashore in this amazing new book with fantastic illustrations. The book includes a removable, waterproof, quick-reference guide to common seashore animals

From these 4 great books a winner will be announced on June 24th. You can vote for a winner too – in the Children’s Choice Award (and you’ll go in the draw to win $500 of book vouchers for you and your school).

Here are the shortlisted books for the Junior Fiction category of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards:

The ACB with Honora Lee by Kate De Goldi & Gregory O’Brien

Perry’s mother and father are busy people … they’re impatient, they’re tired, they get cross easily. And they think that only children, like Perry, should be kept busy. On Saturday mornings Perry and her father visit her gran, Honora Lee, at the Santa Lucia rest home, but Gran never remembers them. ‘Who is that man?’ Honora Lee asks when Perry’s father leaves the room. After movement class is abruptly cancelled, Perry is allowed to go to Santa Lucia on Thursday afternoons. She discovers her Gran has an unconventional interest in the alphabet, so Perry decides to make an alphabet book with the help of Honora and the others. Soon everyone is interested in Perry’s book project.

The Queen and the Nobody Boy (A Tale of Fontania) by Barbara Else

Hodie is the unpaid odd-job boy at the Grand Palace in the Kingdom of Fontania. Fed-up, he decides to leave and better himself. The young Queen, 12-year-old Sibilla, is fed-up too. Sick of gossip about her lack of magical ability, she decides to run away with Hodie, whether he likes it or not.

This is the sequel to The Travelling Restaurant.

My Brother’s War by David Hill

It’s New Zealand, 1914, and the biggest war the world has known has just broken out in Europe. William eagerly enlists for the army but his younger brother, Edmund, is a conscientious objector and refuses to fight. While William trains to be a soldier, Edmund is arrested. Both brothers will end up on the bloody battlefields of France, but their journeys there are very different. And what they experience at the front line will challenge the beliefs that led them there.

Red Rocks by Rachael King

While holidaying at his father’s house, Jake explores Wellington’s wild south coast, with its high cliffs, biting winds, and its fierce seals. When he stumbles upon a perfectly preserved sealskin, hidden in a crevice at Red Rocks, he’s compelled to take it home and hide it under his bed, setting off a chain of events that threatens to destroy his family. Red Rocks takes the Celtic myth of the selkies, or seal people, and transplants it into the New Zealand landscape, throwing an ordinary boy into an adventure tinged with magic

Uncle Trev and His Whistling Bull by Jack Lasenby

More humorous stories of life on the farm with Uncle Trev and his family set in New Zealand during the 1930′s.

There are many other Uncle Trev books. Why not try the first book called ‘Uncle Trev‘ or Uncle Trev and the Treaty of Waitangi, or  Uncle Trev’s Teeth and Other Stories?

From these 5 great books a winner will be announced on June 24th. You can vote for a winner too – in the Children’s Choice Award (and you’ll go in the draw to win $500 of book vouchers for you and your school).

Here is the shortlist for the Picture Books category of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards:

A Great Cake by Tina Matthews

Harvey wants to bake a great cake, but doesn’t have all the ingredients. That doesn’t stop him. Harvey can make cakes from the most amazing things!

Melu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo & John O’Reilly

Melu has always been different. While the other mules stubbornly clip-clop around the sun-baked hills, Melu dreams of swimming in the glittering green sea below. But it will take more than stubborness for Melu to reach the glittering green sea.

Mister Whistler by Margaret Mahy, Illustrated by Gavin Bishop

Absentminded Mister Whistler always has a song in his head and a dance in his feet. In a rush to catch the train, he is so distracted he loses his ticket. Is it in the bottom pockets of his big coat or the top pockets of his jacket? Perhaps he slipped it into his waistcoat. Where is Mister Whistler’s ticket?

Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum by Terri-Rose Baynton

Lintfrey Longfellow would love nothing more than to sit among the clouds… But sadly, clouds just aren’t made for sitting on. Can Mr Bear Branches find a solution to Lintfrey’s cloud conundrum

Remember that November by Jennifer Beck, illustrated by Lindy Fisher

It’s almost Guy Fawkes Night, and at the school speech competition Andy talks about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. The children cheer excitedly, thinking Andy will win the contest. But then, Aroha gets up, wearing a white feather in her hair, and tells the story of another fifth of November – the invasion of Parihaka in 1881

Also published in te Reo as Maumahara ki tērā Nōema

From these 5 great books a winner will be announced on June 24th. You can vote for a winner too – in the Children’s Choice Award (and you’ll go in the draw to win $500 of book vouchers for you and your school).

The shortlist for the annual New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards have been announced.

The awards nominate the best NZ children’s books that have been published in the last year in 4 categories – Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Non-Fiction and Teen.

During the NZ Post Book Awards festival week, which is June 17th – June 24th, there will be fun events and the winners of each category will be announced. Watch this space for more info.

The best thing is that you get to vote for one of the winners! Every year children can vote for their favourite book from any of the categories. The Children’s Choice Award is the one that all the authors and illustrators want to win, and you could win too! By voting you could win $500 of book vouchers for yourself and for your school – cool! Get voting!

We’ll be profiling the shortlist here on the blog so you can find out about all these super cool books and get your hands on them.

Author and illustrator Nick Sharratt will be visiting Wellington in December and will be appearing at the Kilbirnie Children’s Bookshop to meet his fans and sign books.

Fans of Jacqueline Wilson’s books will know his art – he’s the illustrator behind her awesome book covers. He has also written and illustrated many of his own books. Here are just a few:

Meet Nick Sharratt at the Kilbirnie Children’s Bookshop at 11am on December 1st 2012.