Children's Book Awards announces stellar shortlist

Well-known media personalities, bestselling-authors and previous awards winners are among the extremely strong shortlist of 32 titles for the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults announced today. Musician and presenter Anika Moa, respected journalist and broadcaster Miriama Kamo and bestselling author and child psychiatrist Hinemoa Elder join previous winners, including Gavin Bishop, Ruth Paul and Bren MacDibble, as well as numerous other highly regarded and emerging writers and illustrators. The 2025 shortlist “explores some of the many ways to be a New Zealander: our people, our place and our preoccupations,” says the convenor of judges Feana Tu‘akoi. “Among the finalist books, big ideas from our past, present and possible dystopian futures are considered in absorbing and thoughtful ways, providing springboards for deeper discussion. Themes include identity, connection, mental health, our histories, traditional wisdom, indigenous languages, and the importance of being exactly who we are.” This year’s two expert judging panels – a bilingual English and Māori panel and a separate Te Kura Pounamu panel to judge titles written in te reo Māori – were impressed by the calibre of the 156 entries. Whether a deceptively simple board book aimed at our youngest tamariki, or a sophisticated novel for rangatahi, this year’s shortlist deftly connects our best writers and illustrators with the most discerning of readers – children and teenagers, the judges say. These young readers were again involved in the judging process. Kura kaupapa Māori, primary, intermediate and secondary schools across the motu all put their hands up to receive entries in relevant categories, and were given judging guidelines and review templates to encourage considered feedback for the judging panel. In total 51 schools participated, and 450 reviews were supplied for consideration. The winners of each of the six main categories – Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration and Te Reo Māori – take home $8500 and are then in the running to be named recipient of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, an award with a further $8500 prize money. In addition, the judges will award a Best First Book prize of $2500 to a previously unpublished author or illustrator. The ceremony to announce the winners will take place at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on the evening of Wednesday 13 August. The 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists are: The BookHub Picture Book Award This year’s finalists feature stunning illustrations in a range of masterful styles that combine with perfectly pitched text to tell engrossing, multi-layered stories, which the judges feel are sure to become family favourites. • Beddy Bye Time in the Kōwhai Tree, Juliette MacIver, illustrated by Lily Uivel (Scholastic New Zealand) • Mataali‘i, Dahlia Malaeulu (Vaivase Tai, Sinamoga), illustrated by Darcy Solia (Mila's Books) • Ten Nosey Weka, Kate Preece, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Bateman Books) • Titiro Look, Gavin Bishop (Tainui, Ngāti Awa), translated by Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu) (Gecko Press, Lerner Publishing Group) • You Can't Pat a Fish, Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia) Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award Junior Fiction continues to be a hotly contested category and the judges found this year's submissions possessed a real depth of exploration in both subject matter and age range. • Brown Bird, Jane Arthur (Penguin Random House New Zealand) • Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat, Li Chen (Penguin Random House New Zealand) • The Apprentice Witnesser, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin) • The Raven's Eye Runaways, Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin) • Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff, Rachael King, illustrated by Phoebe Morris (Allen & Unwin) Young Adult Fiction Award For an age group that can smell insincerity from a mile away, the judges found it heartening to see writing that triumphed for the YA reader and managed to be deeply emotional but never cloying or sentimental. • Bear, Kiri Lightfoot, illustrated by Pippa Keel Situ (Allen & Unwin) • Gracehopper, Mandy Hager (One Tree House) • Migration, Steph Matuku (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga) (Huia Publishers) • The Mess of Our Lives, Mary-anne Scott (One Tree House) • The Paradise Generation, Sanna Thompson (umop apisdn press) Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction These pukapuka were chosen for their engaging writing, captivating illustration and range of perspectives. The judges felt they exemplify the different ways we can connect with non-fiction information and narratives. • Black Magic, David Riley, illustrated by Munro Te Whata (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Makefu) (Reading Warrior) • Dear Moko: Māori Wisdom for our Young Ones, Hinemoa Elder (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Ngāpuhi nui tonu) (Penguin Random House New Zealand) • Ruru: Night Hunter, Katie Furze, illustrated by Ned Barraud (Scholastic New Zealand) • The Treaty of Waitangi, Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Kāi Tahu) (Oratia Books) • Tui Pea Luva, by Mele Tonga Grant, illustrated by Luca Walton (Mila's Books) Russell Clark Award for Illustration These books feature collage, dreamy, Japanese woodblock-like composition, a waiata-evocative weaving of the abstract, watercolour and cartoon-like illustration. The judges believe these finalists showcase the sheer depth of the illustrator’s craft to be found in New Zealand publishing right now. • Alice and the Strange Bird, Isaac du Toit (Isaac du Toit) • Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro, illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa), written by Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki) (Huia Publishers) • Poem for Ataahua, illustrated by Sarah Wilkins, written by Alistair Teariki Campbell (Reading Warrior) • Sad Sushi, Anna Aldridge (Anna Aldridge) • You Can't Pat a Fish, Ruth Paul (Walker Books Australia) Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Awards From retellings of pūrākau to contemporary kaupapa, the judges found that this year’s Kura Pounamu entries, both written originally in te reo or translated from English, showed great understanding and engagement with te ao Māori as well as fluid, sophisticated use of the language supported by skilful, sensitive illustration. • A Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara, Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Porou), illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu), translated by Hēni Jacob (Ngāti Raukawa) (Penguin Random House New Zealand) • *Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro, Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki), illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) (Huia Publishers) • Ka mātoro a Whetū rāua ko Kohu i Rotorua, Hayley Elliott-Kernot, translated by Te Ingo Ngaia (Taranaki, Ngāruahine, Te Ātiawa, Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whānau-a-Karuai ) (Round Door Design) • Ko ngā Whetū Kai o Matariki, ko Tupuānuku rāua ko Tupuārangi, Miriama Kamo (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga), illustrated by Zak Waipara (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata), translated by Ariana Stevens (Poutini Ngāi Tahu) (Scholastic New Zealand) • *Ngā Kupenga a Nanny Rina, Qiane Matata-Sipu (Te Waiohua, Waikato, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pikiao, Cook Islands), illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Penguin Random House New Zealand) * Indicates a finalist book originally written in te reo Māori NZSA Best First Book Award These shortlisted titles cover all age groups and genres. The judges praised their richly textured, wrap-around storytelling, captivating world-building, evocative illustration and powerful messages of authenticity, inclusion, aroha and fun. • Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie, Shelley Burne-Field (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa, Sāmoa) (Allen & Unwin) • Play Wild, Rachel Clare (Bateman Books) • The Raven's Eye Runaways, Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin) • The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs, Anika Moa (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri), illustrated by Rebecca ter Borg (Penguin Random House New Zealand) • The Writing Desk, Di Morris (Bateman Books)

As well as acknowledging the best and brightest in books for children and teens, a core mission of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults is fostering literacy and a love of reading among New Zealand’s tamariki and rangatahi. This includes a programme of large-scale Books Alive events, in which finalist authors and illustrators bring the magic of books to life at sessions for school children. This year, thanks to the generous support of the Mātātuhi Foundation, for the first time a day of joyous Books Alive fun will be held for Palmerston North and Manawatū school children on Tuesday 22 July, alongside events in Invercargill (30 July), Christchurch (8August) and Wellington (13 August). The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults also administers the ever-popular HELL Reading Challenge, which has now been running for over a decade. Last year over 800 schools and libraries around the motu took part in the programme and more than 340,000 pizza wheels were distributed, leading to an estimated 2.3 million books read. The formidable task of narrowing the field to a shortlist of finalists was met by this year’s experienced English and bilingual judging panel: Convenor of judges Feana Tu‘akoi, a Kirikiriroa-based writer; Don Long, a children’s and educational publishing expert; Linda Jane Keegan, a Singaporean-Pākehā writer and reviewer; Stacy Gregg (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Pukeko, Ngāti Maru Hauraki), recipient of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at the 2024 NZCYA awards; and Mero Rokx (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai), an education specialist who is on the English-language and bilingual panel, as well as Te Kura Pounamu panel. They were joined by a separate panel especially appointed to judge te reo Māori entries: Convenor Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia), a freelance artist, illustrator, writer and te reo Māori tutor based in the Motueka area; Justice-Manawanui Arahanga-Pryor (Ngāti Awa ki Rangitaiki, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki), a kaitakawaenga / library programming specialist; and Maxine Hemi (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne), a kaiako with over 30 years’ experience teaching. The New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults and their associated programmes are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and partners: Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, BookHub presented by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and NielsenIQ BookData. The Awards are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa