Aotearoa's bold and beautiful: Book Design finalists 2025

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Aotearoa's bold and beautiful: Book Design finalists 2025

Home/Reading Lists/Aotearoa's bold and beautiful: Book Design finalists 2025

Reading List

Aotearoa's bold and beautiful: Book Design finalists 2025

Behold these books of beauty! It's time to gaze admiringly at the PANZ Book Design Awards finalists.

The PANZ Book Design Awards finalists have been announced. Here they are: Aotearoa's most gorgeous, resplendent (and personality-filled) books of 2025. Scroll to browse the list.

Read more about the categories, finalists, and awards here.

Read our reviews of finalist books:

Amma; All That We Know; At the Grand Glacier Hotel; Bad Archive; Charlie Tangaroa and the God of War; The Dream Factory; The Eldest Girl; Dummies & Doppelgängers; Feijoa; Kai Feast; Migration; Old Black Cloud; Rēwena and Rabbit Stew; Sight Lines.

Listen, watch and read interviews with book authors and illustrators:

Authors: Shilo Kino; Steph Matuku; Hannah Rose Watt.

Illustrators: Isobel Joy Te Aho White; Jo Pearson.

Cover of Eileen Mayo's Rare and Endangered Birds of Aotearoa New Zealand: 30 Pull-out Posterse

1

Eileen Mayo's Rare and Endangered Birds of Aotearoa New Zealand: 30 Pull-out Posterse

30 Pull-out Posterse

by

$39.90 NZD

Cover of Fenoga Taoga Niue I Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey In Aotearoa

Fenoga Taoga Niue I Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey In Aotearoa

by

$228.00 NZD

Cover of Herbst – Architecture in Context

Herbst – Architecture in Context

by

$75.00 NZD

Cover of Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa

Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa

Women and Art in Aotearoa

by

$69.99 NZD

Cover of worm, root, wort… & bane

worm, root, wort… & bane

by

$79.00 NZD

Cover of Becoming Tangata Tiriti: Working with Māori, Honouring the Treaty

Becoming Tangata Tiriti: Working with Māori, Honouring the Treaty

Working with Māori, Honouring the Treaty

by

$29.99 NZD

Cover of Grid: The life and times of First World War fighter ace Keith Caldwell

Grid: The life and times of First World War fighter ace Keith Caldwell

The life and times of First World War fighter ace Keith Caldwell

by

$65.00 NZD

Cover of In the Half Light of a Dying Day: Catullus, 2023

In the Half Light of a Dying Day: Catullus, 2023

Catullus, 2023

by

$24.99 NZD

Cover of Japan: An Autobiography

Japan: An Autobiography

by

$45.00 NZD

Cover of Slender Volumes

Slender Volumes

by

$38.00 NZD

Cover of A Lot of Silly: A Book of Nonsense

A Lot of Silly: A Book of Nonsense

A Book of Nonsense

by

$39.99 NZD

Cover of The Beach Activity Book: 99 Ideas for Activities by the Water Around Aotearoa New Zealand

The Beach Activity Book: 99 Ideas for Activities by the Water Around Aotearoa New Zealand

99 Ideas for Activities by the Water Around Aotearoa New Zealand

by

$35.00 NZD

Cover of The Dream Factory

The Dream Factory

by

$22.00 NZD

Cover of Five Wee Puteketeke

Five Wee Puteketeke

by

$22.99 NZD

Cover of Nanny Rina's Amazing Nets

Nanny Rina's Amazing Nets

by

$21.00 NZD

Cover of Piki te Ora: Your Wellbeing Journal

Piki te Ora: Your Wellbeing Journal

by

$29.99 NZD

Cover of The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs

The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs

by

$21.00 NZD

Cover of Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees

Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees

by

$29.99 NZD

Cover of My Matariki Colouring and Activity Book

My Matariki Colouring and Activity Book

by

$17.99 NZD

Cover of The Food Fountain Of Youth

The Food Fountain Of Youth

by

$45.00 NZD

Cover of Kai Feast

Kai Feast

by

$59.99 NZD

Cover of Oikos – An Ode to Food, Family and Friends

Oikos – An Ode to Food, Family and Friends

by

$85.00 NZD

Cover of That Green Olive

That Green Olive

by

$50.00 NZD

Cover of 101 Ways to Find Calm: How to use your body to soothe your mind

101 Ways to Find Calm: How to use your body to soothe your mind

How to use your body to soothe your mind

by

$29.99 NZD

Cover of All That We Know

All That We Know

by

$37.99 NZD

Cover of Amma

Amma

by

$37.99 NZD

Cover of At The Grand Glacier Hotel

At The Grand Glacier Hotel

by

$37.00 NZD

Cover of Feijoa

Feijoa

A story of obsession and belonging

by

$39.99 NZD

Cover of Wild Walks Aotearoa: A Guide to Tramping in New Zealand

Wild Walks Aotearoa: A Guide to Tramping in New Zealand

A Guide to Tramping in New Zealand

by

$50.00 NZD

Cover of Bad Archive

Bad Archive

by

$35.00 NZD

Cover of Dummies & Doppelgängers

Dummies & Doppelgängers

by

$34.90 NZD

Cover of Old Black Cloud: A cultural history of mental depression in Aotearoa New Zealand

Old Black Cloud: A cultural history of mental depression in Aotearoa New Zealand

A cultural history of mental depression in Aotearoa New Zealand

by

$49.95 NZD

Cover of Rēwena and Rabbit Stew: The Rural Kitchen in Aotearoa, 1800–1940

Rēwena and Rabbit Stew: The Rural Kitchen in Aotearoa, 1800–1940

The Rural Kitchen in Aotearoa, 1800–1940

by

$49.99 NZD

Cover of Charlie Tangaroa and the God of War

Charlie Tangaroa and the God of War

by

$25.00 NZD

Cover of Te Huarahi: A Māori Medium Initial Teacher Education Programme

Te Huarahi: A Māori Medium Initial Teacher Education Programme

A Maori Medium Initial Teacher Education Programme

by

$45.00 NZD

Cover of The Eldest Girl

The Eldest Girl

by

$35.00 NZD

Cover of Migration

Migration

by

$30.00 NZD