The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults ceremony last night recognised excellence across seven categories in children's books. You can read more about the awards and the judges' comments in this news release. In this article, we give a run down on the winners, their books, and include reviews, critics' thoughts, and interviews and extracts.

The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year $8500, BookHub Picture Book Award $8500

A Guide to Rocks, Sacha Cotter, illustrated by Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata) (Huia Publishers)

‘Lately, things have been getting Charlie down. It’s like he’s got a big rock that just won’t go away. He talks to Dad about it, and Dad brings out a dusty old book with a lot of tough rules. The first rule is you don’t talk about rocks (feelings). But the rules make things worse – Charlie’s ‘rock’ gets bigger, and everything feels dark and scary. They need some new rules – fast.’

In a review at Read NZ, Lucy Black described Sacha Cottar and Josh Morgan’s latest book, A Guide to Rocks, as ‘a touching and at times confronting look at masculinity in Aotearoa’. The book combines stunning and vibrant illustrations with a thoughtful, fun and age-appropriate story, and was included in the Spinoff’s best books of 2025. This is the duo’s second win of the largest prize at the New Zealand Awards for Children and Young Adults. This pair are at the top of their game, producing some of Aotearoa’s finest picture books for this generation of kids.

Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction $8500
Dreamslinger, Graci Kim (Penguin Random House New Zealand)

‘Fourteen-year-old Aria Loveridge is a Dreamslinger, born with a genetic mutation that transports her to a magical realm while she sleeps. In much of the world slingers are seen as dangerous, especially after the Great Outburst, caused by the Royal League of Dreamslingers, killed thousands — including Aria’s mother.’

Graci Kim is on a roll: Dreamslinger and its recently released sequel, Royalslinger, were already dominating the children’s monthly bestseller lists. You can read an extract from Dreamslinger on Kete. Over at Read NZ, Kirsty Jamieson-Gough calls Graci’s highly innovative world ‘beautifully crafted and believable…[that] brings together elements of her Korean and Kiwi cultures’. In our recent interview with Graci she told us that ‘there really is no greater joy than getting lost in the wilderness of my imagination,’ and this award is a testament to the power of her imagination to inspire and delight readers.

Wheelers Books Award for Young Adult Fiction $8500

The Lost Saint, Rachael Craw (Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand)

‘Recently dumped, heart-broken Ana struggles to put the past behind her on a post-graduation summer holiday.

When a catastrophic earthquake hits, Ana and the other survivors emerge in a world they don't recognise, stumbling into a 14th century battle. The students flee and Ana is chased off a cliff by one of the soldiers, Leon, who is badly injured in the fall.

Sparks fly between Ana and Leon: to survive, they need to rely on each other and as their trust grows, so does romance.’

Rachael Craw’s debut YA novel ‘absolutely nails the setting, building a multi-layered and interesting world,’ writes Rebekah Lyell at NZ Booklovers. Grounded in a historical setting, The Lost Saint is a fast-moving novel that combines adventure and romance that grips the reader from the first sentence. In a conversational interview for Kete, Craw noted that her research had left her ‘jangling with random, useless facts about cramp rings and Holy Fools and use of glass in castle windows’! Congratulations to Rachael on winning this award.

Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction $8500

Whenua: Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa, Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu) (Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand)

‘From sleeping giants to battling mountains, fiery sisters to adventurous trees, dig into Whenua and discover eleven tales of how Aotearoa was formed beneath our feet. Whenua takes readers back in time with each pūrākau, exploring the ways in which Aotearoa's land was formed and introducing children to legendary Māori figures and atua…’

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White has illustrated more than 30 picture books, but this is her first book as both author and illustrator, and Alex Tully- Eagles notes in a review for Kete that ‘Te Aho-White’s gentle style of storytelling imparts new information, as well as the more familiar, in a refreshingly novel approach.’ Accompanied by her trademark beautiful illustrations, which you can read more about in this interview with Barbara Uini, the book is a thing of beauty.

Russell Clark Award for Illustration $8500 & Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Originally Written in Te Reo Māori $8500

Kupe and the Great Octopus of Muturangi, Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau) (Allen and Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand) & Kupe me te Wheke nui a Muturangi, Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne o Wairau) (Allen and Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand)

‘Kupe's voyage to Aotearoa! Kupe found that a huge, fearsome wheke (octopus) was taking all the fish in the ocean and the people of Hawaiki had nothing to eat. So Kupe chased that wheke across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Finally Hine-te-Aparangi, Kupe's wife, saw land and a long white cloud: Aotearoa! Find out what happened when the wheke and Kupe had a massive battle . . .’

Mat Tait’s second book, Kupe and the Great Octopus of Muturangi, was published in March in both English and te reo Māori. Both editions won awards! In this interview with Kete in April, Mat spoke about ‘honouring the language, its resilience, and ongoing health,’ in the te reo edition. He also talked about the illustration and how he’d worked to ‘really try and loosen up some of the preconceptions built up over a lifetime about how my work should look.’

Many authors will write the text of a picture book, or act as illustrator alone, so it’s quite something to be both author in two languages, and illustrator as well. Congratulations to Mat on these awards!

Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Translated into Te Reo Māori $8500
He Taonga te Toka, Sacha Cotter, illustrated by Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata), translated by Kawata Teepa (Tūhoe, Te Whakatōhea ) (Huia Publishers)

The translation of A Guide to Rocks was translated by Kawata Teepa, who said ‘being named finalist is always a privilege and an honour, and exciting too’ in this piece by finalist authors named on the 2026 New Zealand Awards for Children’s and Young Adults, featured on Kete.

NZSA Best First Book Award $2500
Te Onehaumako, Zeb Tamihana Nicklin (Pāhauwera, Ruapani, Tūhoe, Tāmanuhiri) (Huia Publishers)

‘This is a young adults novel in te reo Māori where we follow the story of Tawa, an inquisitive teenage boy. With a time-travelling shed located in his garden, Tawa takes a trip through time visiting ancient days, where he meets Mauwhare and his grandmother. Throughout the story, Tawa meets ancestors and paramount chiefs and soon realises there might be more to his grandmother and Mauwhare than meets the eye...’

Zeb Tamihana Nicklin is an award-winning writer, teacher and translator who has taken out prizes at the Pikihuia Awards and others, and he is continuing his winning trend with Te Onehaumako. He said, in this Kete piece, when the finalist lists were announced, that ‘being a finalist has definitely kicked me into gear to keep writing, and I have nearly finished another book since the news…’  which is great news for literature in Aotearoa!