
<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-1558" src="http://schoolnewsnz.fastrackdev.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SND16-wk3-NZ_Book_AwardsLittle_Red_Riding_Hood_Not_Quite.jpg" alt="SND16-wk3-NZ Book AwardsLittle Red Riding Hood Not Quite" style="margin: 5px; float: right;" width="300" height="265" />Twenty-two books have been picked as finalists in the 2015 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. This is the 25th year of the awards.</p>
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<p>One hundred and forty-nine books were submitted with a panel of three judges having spent months reading, analysing and enjoying the entries.</p>
<p>The judges were: convenor and children&#8217;s book reviewer and literary consultant Bob Docherty, author and children&#8217;s bookshop owner Annemarie Florian, and teacher-librarian Fiona Mackie, with the assistance of Te Reo Māori language adviser, writer and editor Stephanie Pohe-Tibble.</p>
<p>The finalists are selected across four categories: Picture Book, Non-Fiction, Junior Fiction and Young Adult Fiction, and there is an additional award for books written in Māori, for which there are finalists for the first time.</p>
<p>Mr Docherty says the judges were very pleased with the high quality of this year&#8217;s writing.</p>
<p>&#8220;We likened the process to a vintner looking forward to tasting this year&#8217;s vintage. Having tasted, we all were delighted with this year&#8217;s production of titles – not only in terms of the actual writing, but also the fantastic quality and style of the illustrations and the actual presentation of the books.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s heartening to see that book production in New Zealand is getting better and better. We&#8217;re pleased that publishers continue to put as much emphasis on the look and feel – literally – of a book as well as its content.</p>
<p>He says all books submitted in the Non-Fiction category were particularly impressive – &#8220;almost in defiance of the trend for some libraries to dispense with their non-fiction collections in favour of online sources&#8221;. The judging panel believed all the Non-Fiction entries contained material that was far superior to any online source, and all entries deserved to be finalists.&#8221;</p>
<p>Seven books were submitted in the Māori language award, with two selected as finalists.</p>
<p>Stephanie Pohe-Tibble says all of this year&#8217;s entries had something for every reader &#8211; from beginning speakers of Māori to children and whānau involved in kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori. The two finalists both stood out with their innovative approach to translation, wonderful text and illustrations, and creativity of storylines.</p>
<p>Children&#8217;s choices rule in the newly revamped Children&#8217;s Choice Awards in 2015. This year, more than 6500 children and young adults from 106 schools from throughout the country have selected their own finalists from the 149 books submitted for the awards. In previous years, the Children&#8217;s Choice was made from the judges&#8217; finalist list, rather than from the full number of submitted books.</p>
<p>Of the 20 books chosen as Children&#8217;s Choice finalists, seven match those on the judges&#8217; list, so we&#8217;re very much looking forward to seeing the results of round two of the children&#8217;s vote over the next seven weeks,&#8221; chair of the New Zealand <a class="wpil_keyword_link" href="https://www.schoolnews.co.nz/2015/11/children-s-book-awards-merge-prize-money-increases/" title="Book Awards" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked" target="_blank">Book Awards</a> Trust, Nicola Leggat says.</p>
<p>Voting for the Children&#8217;s Choice opened on Tuesday, June 9 and closes on Friday, July 31. This year there will be a winner in each category.</p>
<p>For the second year, the five Picture Book finalists&#8217; books are being sent to Prince George of Cambridge and this time his new-born sister Princess Charlotte as well. Each of the five books has a personal message from its author to both children.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #000000; text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Finalists</strong></span></span><br /><strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Picture books</strong></p>
<p>Construction by Sally Sutton &; Brian Lovelock<br />Walker Books Australia<br />I Am Not a Worm<br />By Scott Tulloch<br />Scholastic New Zealand</p>
<p>Jim&#8217;s Letters<br />By Glyn Harper and Jenny Cooper<br />Penguin Random House</p>
<p>Keys<br />By Sacha Cotter and Joshua Morgan<br />Huia Publishers</p>
<p>Little Red Riding Hood&#8230;Not Quite<br />By Yvonne Morrison and Donovan Bixley<br />Scholastic New Zealand</p>
<p><strong>Non-Fiction</strong></p>
<p>Ghoulish Get-Ups: How to Create Your Own Freaky Costumes<br />by Fifi Colston<br />Scholastic New Zealand</p>
<p>Māori Art for Kids<br />by Julie Noanoa and Norm Heke<br />Craig Potton Publishing</p>
<p>Mōtītī Blue and the Oil Spill<br />by Debbie McCauley<br />Mauao Publishing</p>
<p>The Book of Hat<br />by Harriet Rowland<br />Makaro Press/Submarine<br />Under the Ocean: explore &; discover New Zealand&#8217;s sea life<br />by Gillian Candler and Ned Barraud<br />Craig Potton Publishing</p>
<p><strong>Junior Fiction</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong><br />Conrad Cooper&#8217;s Last Stand<br />by Leonie Agnew<br />Penguin Random House/Puffin</p>
<p>Dragon Knight: Fire!<br />by Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley<br />Scholastic New Zealand</p>
<p>Monkey Boy<br />by Donovan Bixley<br />Scholastic New Zealand</p>
<p>The Island of Lost Horses<br />by Stacy Gregg<br />HarperCollins</p>
<p>The Pirates and the Nightmaker<br />by James Norcliffe<br />Penguin Random House/Longacre Child</p>
<p><strong>Young Adults</strong></p>
<p>I Am Rebecca<br />by Fleur Beale<br />Penguin Random House</p>
<p>Night Vision<br />by Ella West<br />Allen &; Unwin</p>
<p>Recon Team Angel: Vengeance<br />by Brian Falkner<br />Walker Books Australia</p>
<p>Singing Home the Whale<br />by Mandy Hager<br />Penguin Random House</p>
<p>While We Run<br />by Karen Healey<br />Allen &; Unwin</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #000000;">Maori Language Award</span></strong></p>
<p>Hoiho Paku<br />by Stephanie Thatcher<br />Translated by Ngaere Roberts<br />Scholastic New Zealand</p>
<p>Ngā Ki<br />by Sacha Cotter and Joshua Morgan<br />Translated by Kawata Teepa<br />Huia Publishers<br />(translation of Keys, a finalist in the Picture Book category)</p>
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