Winners in LIANZA Book Awards announced

The LIANZA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Awards Winners for 2015 were announced last night at the National Library in Wellington.

Hell Pizza was the main sponsor, and Hataitai School Year 7 & 8 students were on hand to deliver over 50 pizzas to the 150 guests.

The LIANZA Children’s and Young Adult Book Awards are celebrating 70 years, and look forward to another 70 years of promoting children’s literacy in New Zealand.

Entry forms for the 2016 awards will be available in August this year.

The finalists and winners for 2015 are:

Russell Clark Illustration Award Winner: Mrs Mo’s Monster by Paul Beavis– Gecko Press
Finalists:
• Marmaduke Duck on the Wide Blue Seas by Sarah Davis – Scholastic
• Jim’s Letters by Jenny Cooper – Penguin Random House
• Have you seen a monster? by Raymond McGrath – Penguin Random House
• So Many Wonderfuls by Tina Matthews – Walker Books

Elsie Locke Nonfiction Winner: Maori Art for Kids by Julie Noanoa and Norm Heke– Potton and Burton Publishing. Finalists:

• The Book of Hat by Harriet Rowland – Makaro Press
• A New Zealand Nature Journal by Sandra Morris – Walker Books
• Mōtītī Blue and the Oil Spill: A Story from the Rena Disaster by Debbie McCauley – Mauao Publishing
• New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame: 25 Kiwi Champions by Maria Gill and Marco Ivancic – New Holland

Te Kura Pounamu Winner: Kimihia by Te Mihinga Komene and Scott Pearson – Huia Publishers. Finalists:

• Ngā Kī by Sacha Cotter, Josh Morgan and Kawata Teepa – Huia Publishers
• Hui E! by various authors – Huia Publishers
• Tūtewehi by Fred Te Maro – Huia Publishers
• An early Te Reo Reading Book Series by Carolyn Collis – Summer Rose Books

Librarian’s Choice Award Winner: I am Rebecca by Fleur Beale – Penguin Random House. Finalists:

• The Song of Kauri by Melinda Syzmanik – Scholastic
• Maori Art for Kids by Julie Noanoa and Norm Heke– Potton and Burton Publishing
• Monkey Boy by Donovan Bixley – Scholastic
• Kimihia by Te Mihinga Komene and Scott Pearson – HuiaPublishers

LIANZA YA Fiction Winner: Night Vision by Ella West – Allen and Unwin. Finalists:

• I am Rebecca by Fleur Beale – Penguin Random House
• The Red Suitcase by Jill Harris Makaro Press
• Singing Home the Whale by Mandy Hager – Penguin Random House
• Recon Team Angel: Vengeance by Brian Falkner – Walker Books

Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award Winner: Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand by Leonie Agnew – Penguin. Finalists:

• Monkey Boy by Donovan Bixley –
Scholastic
• The Volume of Possible Endings (A Tale of Fontania) by Barbara Else
Gecko
• Trouble in Time by Adele Broadbent –
Scholastic
• Letterbox Cat by Paula Green Scholastic