Gaelyn Gordon Award facts for kids
The Gaelyn Gordon Award is a special prize given every year in New Zealand. It celebrates children's books that people have loved for a long time. This award is for New Zealand fiction books that have stayed popular and are still enjoyed by many young readers. It is now given by the Storylines Children's Literature Foundation.
The Story of the Award
This award is named after a wonderful writer named Gaelyn Gordon. She was born in a place called Hāwera in 1939. Gaelyn used to teach English and Drama at Hamilton Girls’ High School.
Gaelyn started writing children's books in 1989. She wrote many books for both kids and adults. Sadly, she passed away in 1997. Even though her books were very popular, they didn't win any big awards while she was alive.
To remember Gaelyn and her important work, the Children's Literature Foundation created the Gaelyn Gordon Award in 1998. Her publishers, HarperCollins, Scholastic, and David Ling Publishing, helped set it up. In 2005, the Children's Literature Foundation changed its name to the Storylines Children's Literature Foundation. That's why the award is now called the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award.
How Books Are Chosen
The Gaelyn Gordon Award is for books that have been loved for a long time. Here are the rules for a book to win this special award:
- The book must be a children's fiction story.
- It should have been popular and successful for many years.
- It might not have won a big award when it first came out.
- The book must still be available to buy (in print). It needs to have been in print for at least five years. If it was re-released, it needs to have been in print for at least two years.
- The author of the book must still be alive.
- A special group chosen by Storylines picks the winning book each year.
- A book can be considered even if it was nominated for another New Zealand award. However, it cannot have already won a major New Zealand award. It's okay if it won an award in another country.
Award Winners
| 1999 | The Runaway Settlers by Elsie Locke |
| 2000 | Grandpa’s Slippers by Joy Watson, illustrated by Wendy Hodder |
| 2001 | Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen |
| 2002 | See Ya, Simon by David Hill |
| 2003 | The Little Yellow Digger by Betty Gilderdale and Alan Gilderdale |
| 2004 | Under the Mountain by Maurice Gee |
| 2005 | Night Race to Kawau by Tessa Duder |
| 2006 | The Nickle Nackle Tree by Lynley Dodd |
| 2007 | Slide the Corner by Fleur Beale |
| 2008 | My Brown Bear Barney by Dorothy Butler, illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller |
| 2009 | I Am Not Esther by Fleur Beale |
| 2010 | The Wednesday Wizard by Sherryl Jordan |
| 2011 | Tangaroa's Gift by Mere Whaanga-Schollum |
| 2012 | Uncle Trev by Jack Lasenby |
| 2013 | How Maui Slowed the Sun by Peter Gossage |
| 2014 | Grandma McGarvey by Jenny Hessell, illustrated by Trevor Pye |
| 2015 | Little Kiwi is Scared of the Dark by Bob Darroch |
| 2016 | Cry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt |
| 2017 | Mr McGee by Pamela Allen |
| 2018 | Nicketty Nacketty Noo-Noo-Noo, by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Trace Moroney |
| 2019 | The Christmas caravan by Jennifer Beck, illustrated by Robyn Belton |
| 2020 | The Big Block of Chocolate by Janet Slater, illustrated by Christine Dale |
| 2021 | The Girls in the Kapa Haka by Angie Belcher, illustrated by Debbie Tipuna |
| 2022 | Winter of Fire, by Sherryl Jordan |
| 2023 | A Kiwi Night Before Christmas by Yvonne Morgan, illustrated by Deborah Hinde |
See also
- List of New Zealand literary awards
