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

Here are your favourite non-fiction books for April. Grab them from your library today.

1. Star Wars by David Reynolds West

2. Frontier of dreams the story of New Zealand by John Parker

3. The horrible history of the world by Terry Deary

4. The LEGO book by Daniel Lipkowi
5. Ripley’s believe it or not by Rosie Alexandertz

6. Cat by Juliet Clutton-Brock

7. World War 1 by Simon Adams

8. Usborne little book of Easter activities by Rebecca Gilpin

9. Pokemon Visual Guide by Cris Silvestri

10. Big book of paper craft by Fiona Watt

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).

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.

Are you a non-fiction fan? Here are the 10 most popular books for March.

1. Star Wars by David West Reynolds

2. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney

3. Pokemon Visual Guide by Cris Silvestri

4. Guinness World Records 2013 by Craig Glenday

5. Ripley’s Believe it or Not by Rosie Alexander

6. The LEGO book by Daniel Lipkowitz

7. Pokemon Ultimate Handbook by Cris Silvestri

8. Stitch-by-Stitch by Jane Bull

9. Star Wars series by Jason Fry

10. The Hobbit movie storybook by Paddy Kempshall

Saint Patrick’s Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick is a cultural, religious and public holiday celebrated on 17 March, the anniversary of his death. It celebrates the life of  Saint Patrick, the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. On the day, people go to church services, wear green attire, attend public parades, eat Irish food and party the Irish way with music, singing and dancing, leprechauns and four-leaf clovers. On the day, you can also call into the Central Library and take out some amazing books about Saint Patrick’s Day and Ireland.

Check out the following books:

Books about St. Patrick’s Day (and the Saint himself):

Books about Ireland:

Irish Folk Tales and Stories:

FACT: Did you know over half a million New Zealanders have Irish ancestors, whose stories have been passed down the generations. Read more about this history of the Irish in New Zealand on  Te Ara.

Love non-fiction? Us too! Here are the top 10 non-fiction books for February. These books have been borrowed heaps of times.

1. Star Wars: The complete visual dictionary by David West Reynolds
2. The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary by Jeff Kinney
3. Guinness World Records 2013 by Craig Glenday
4. The LEGO book by Daniel Lipkowitz
5. Pokemon Ultimate Handbook by Cris Silvestri
6. Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Special Edition by Rosie Alexander
7. The Usborne book of origami and other paper projects by Eileen O’Brien
8. The Kingfisher Dinosaur Encyclopedia by Michael Benton
9. Big Book of Papercraft by Fiona Watt
10. Space by Rob Lloyd Jones