Picture Book Lands Premier Children’s Literature Prize

Canterbury literary legend, Margaret Mahy (pic below left) and internationally recognised illustrator from Dunedin, David Elliot,(below right), have won the country’s most prestigious gong for children’s literature, The New Zealand Post Children’s Book of the Year Award for their picture book, The Moon & Farmer McPhee.

 Margaret Mahy and David Elliot accept the New Zealand Post Children's Book of the Year Award with publisher Jenny Hellen  -Photo - Mark Tantrum

 “From its breathtakingly high production standards to its delightful message of taking time out to enjoy life, The Moon & Farmer McPhee is an absolute treasure,” says New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards convenor of judges, Ruth McIntyre.

“The sheer poetry of the language and the gorgeous luminous illustrations each magnificently complements the other. Thoughtful details such as the artfully placed cut-outs and fold-out pages, the joyful expressions on the animals’ faces, the lovely word-play and the positive message all add to the complete package”, McIntyre says.

The Moon & Farmer McPhee took on Leon Davidson’s gritty account of war in Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front; Fleur Beale’s stunning young adult fantasy, Fierce September; and Sherryl Jordan’s humorous pirate novella, Finnigan & the Pirates, to claim the ultimate prize.

The judging panel, which included writer and former teacher William Taylor, and school librarian, Dee Brooker, collectively remarked that they had been delighted by the high standard of the books submitted for this year’s awards, something which made their task of choosing the winners incredibly difficult.

”A quarter of the submissions were from new writers and illustrators. Their work was of an extremely high standard, suggesting that children’s book publishing in New Zealand is in rude good health, despite the recession.” 

The Moon & Farmer McPhee also took the Picture Book Category award at a gala ceremony held at the Auckland Convention Centre this evening.

Another picture book, Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark Sommerset, illustrated by his wife Rowan Sommerset, won the coveted 2011 Children’s Choice Award with a clear majority. This prize is highly regarded by authors and illustrators, who see it as a huge accolade; the big ‘thumbs up’ from their readers. With snappy dialogue and hilarious illustrations, Baa Baa Smart Sheep is a laugh-out-loud story that will leave you thinking sheep aren’t as stupid as we might think.

 The full list of Category Award winners in the 2011 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards are:

Picture Book Category Award and New Zealand Post Children’s Book of the Year

The Moon & Farmer McPhee by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by David Elliot (Random House New Zealand)

Non-fiction Category Award

Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front by Leon Davidson (Text Publishing)

Junior Fiction Category Award

Finnigan and the Pirates: A Fine Fandango by Sherryl Jordan (Scholastic New Zealand Limited)

Young Adult Fiction Category Award

Fierce September by Fleur Beale (Random House New Zealand)

Best First Book Award
Hollie Chips by Anna Gowan (Scholastic New Zealand Limited)

Children’s Choice Award

Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark Sommerset, illustrated by Rowan Sommerset (Dreamboat Books Ltd)

New Zealand children also cast their votes for books in the four main categories and the Children’s Choice winners they chose are: Picture Book Category – Baa Baa Smart Sheep by Mark Sommerset, illustrated by Rowan Sommerset (Dreamboat Books Ltd); Non Fiction Category – Who's Cooking Tonight? by Claire Gourley with Glenda Gourley (Penguin Books); Junior Fiction Category – Hollie Chips by Anna Gowan (Scholastic New Zealand Limited); and Young Adult Category – Smiling Jack by Ken Catran (HarperCollins)

Each Category Award winner received $7,500. The winner of the New Zealand Post Children’s Book of the Year Award took home an extra $7,500. The winner of the Best First Book Award and the Children’s Choice Award received prize money of $2,000 each.

New Zealand Post has been supporting the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards since 1997 to help promote literacy and literature throughout the country. The partnership has seen the Awards flourish, growing from strength to strength over the last decade. Working closely with Booksellers NZ, New Zealand Post and other dedicated segments of the community actively encourage New Zealand children to read and enjoy books. For those with limited access to new works, New Zealand Post also purchases and distributes books by the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards finalists through the Books in Homes programme each year.

The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards are also supported by Creative New Zealand and Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd and are administered by Booksellers NZ.

Brief bios.

Margaret Mahy wrote her first story at the age of seven. Margaret has written numerous books,

achieving outstanding international success; she is a much-loved author both here and overseas. In 2006 she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and she has also received an Order of New Zealand, the highest honour a citizen can receive.

David Elliot has achieved international and national success, having illustrated a wide

range of children's books, including poetry, short stories, novels and picture books, for New

Zealand publishers and also for U.S. publisher, Philomel (Penguin) New York. His New Zealand

picture books include the Sydney the Penguin books and Pigtails the Pirate, winner of the 2003 NZ Post Children’s Picture Book Award.

  

Leon Davidson grew up with Second World War comics and movies, and tried to enlist in the New Zealand Armed Forces when he was eight. When he was old enough he spent ten years overseas, mainly in Melbourne. He now lives in Wellington, where he juggles writing with primary school teaching. He is the author of the multi-award-winning titles Scarecrow Army and Red Haze. His third book is Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front.

Sherryl Jordan lives in Tauranga with her young grandson Kael – it was his desire for a pirate story that inspired Finnigan. The ‘World of Story’ always seemed more real and powerful to Jordan than the world around her. Most of her ideas just hit her over the head when she least expects them – and some stories are inspired by things that intrigue, delight, or terrify her.

Fleur Beale lives in Wellington and is the author of more than 30 books published in New Zealand, the US and the UK. Beale won the 2007 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book with Slide the Corner and the Esther Glen Award for Juno of Taris in the 2009 LIANZA Children’s Book Awards.

Anna Gowan was born in Auckland into a family fond of tall stories. She completed a degree in film and media at Otago University while studying writing by correspondence. A stint at John Marsden’s writing camp in Australia cemented her passion. In recent years she has worked her writing around a career in television.

Mark Sommerset loves stories that make you laugh, think or dream. He spends a lot of time

in his imagination and relishes the challenge of creating picture books for the enjoyment of kids

and adults alike. Baa Baa Smart Sheep is Mark’s fourth book.

Rowan Sommerset is a self-confessed dreamer with a love for quirky illustrated books. When

crafting her own characters she enjoys using as few lines as possible and constantly removes

clutter as she creates. Baa Baa Smart Sheep is her third picture book.

Ruth McIntyre was a New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards judge in 2010 and along with husband John, is the co-owner of the award-winning Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington. A trained journalist, she has worked in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain for magazines and newspapers. For 17 years Ruth was an editor at the New Zealand Press Association, selecting and processing news stories for the country’s national daily newspapers.