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Storylines Notable Book Awards facts for kids

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The Storylines Notable Book Awards are special awards given out every year in New Zealand. They celebrate the best books for kids and teenagers written and illustrated by New Zealanders. Think of it as a "best of" list for amazing books published in the country each year!

What are the Storylines Notable Book Awards?

The Storylines Notable Book Awards started in 1999. Since then, they have been given out every year to honor great books for young readers.

The list of winning books is announced every March. The awards are presented at a special event called the Storylines Margaret Mahy Awards Day. This event also celebrates other important book awards, like the Margaret Mahy Medal.

The awards day is held in Auckland around April 2nd. This date is special because it's International Children’s Book Day and the birthday of the famous author Hans Christian Andersen.

How are the books chosen?

A team of experts, like writers, illustrators, teachers, and librarians, chooses the winning books. They look for several things to decide if a book is "notable" or special.

What makes a book notable?

  • Good Storytelling: The book must be well-written, with a great plot and interesting characters.
  • Great Design: The book's design, editing, and pictures are also important.
  • Fun to Read: Most importantly, the book should be enjoyable and suitable for its target audience.
  • Different Categories: Books are chosen in several categories, including Picture Books, Junior Fiction, Young Adult, and Non-Fiction. Since 2019, there is also a special category for books in te reo Māori.

Usually, up to ten books are chosen for each category. Sometimes, a few extra books are added if they are exceptionally good. Books that don't make the main list might get a "Special Mention" for being unique.

Award Categories

The awards are split into different groups, mostly based on age. Here are the main categories:

  • Picture Books: These books use both pictures and words to tell a story. They are for readers of all ages, from babies to 18-year-olds.
  • Junior Fiction: These are chapter books for primary and intermediate school kids, usually between 7 and 13 years old.
  • Young Adult Fiction: These books are for older readers, from about 13 to 18 years old.
  • Non-fiction: These are true stories or information books. They are well-researched and designed to be easy for young people to read.
  • Notable Te Reo Māori: This category is for books written in or translated into te reo Māori.

List of Winners

Here is a sample of some of the books that have won awards over the years.

Year Category Title Author Illustrator Publisher
2000 Picture Books Mr McGee & the Perfect Nest Pamela Allen Penguin Books
2000 Picture Books The House that Jack Built Gavin Bishop Scholastic
2000 Junior Fiction Storm Margaret Beames Scholastic
2000 Junior Fiction 2Much4U Vince Ford Scholastic
2000 Senior Fiction Playing to Win Fleur Beale Scholastic
2000 Senior Fiction The Tiggie Tompson Show Tessa Duder Penguin Books
2000 Non-Fiction Red-Eyed Tree Frog Joy Cowley and Nic Bishop Scholastic
2000 Non-Fiction The Life-Sized Guide to Insects Andrew Crowe Penguin Books
2018 Picture Books The Longest Breakfast Jenny Bornholdt Sarah Wilkins Gecko Press
2018 Picture Books Ambulance, Ambulance! Sally Sutton Brian Lovelock Walker Books Australia
2018 Junior Fiction Helper and Helper Joy Cowley Gavin Bishop Gecko Press
2018 Junior Fiction Awatea’s Treasure Fraser Smith Huia Publishers
2018 Young Adult Fiction The Severed Land Maurice Gee Penguin Random House
2018 Young Adult Fiction The Traitor and the Thief Gareth Ward Walker Books Australia
2018 Non-Fiction Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story Gavin Bishop Penguin Random House
2018 Non-Fiction How to Mend a Kea + Other Fabulous Fix-it Tales from Wildbase Hospital Janet Hunt Massey University Press
2019 Picture Books Puffin the Architect Kimberly Andrews Penguin Random House
2019 Picture Books The Bomb Sacha Cotter Josh Morgan Huia
2019 Junior Fiction Whetū Toa and the Magician Eirlys Hunter Kirsten Slade Gecko Press
2019 Junior Fiction The Mapmakers’ Race Sherryl Jordan One Tree House
2019 Young Adult Fiction Legacy Whiti Hereaka Huia
2019 Young Adult Fiction The Anger of Angels Sherryl Jordan Walker Books Australia
2019 Non-Fiction Cook’s Cook: The Cook who Cooked for Captain Cook Gavin Bishop Gecko Press
2019 Non-Fiction Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women Barbara Else Penguin Random House
2019 Te Reo Māori Pūrakāu o Aotearoa: Te Hīnga Ake a Māui i te Ika Whenua Donovan Bixley, Darryn Joseph Keri Opai Upstart Press
2020 Picture Books Song of the River Joy Cowley Kimberly Andrews Gecko Press
2020 Picture Books The Little Ghost Who Lost Her Boo! Elaine Bickell Raymond McGrath Scholastic NZ
2020 Junior Fiction Lizard's Tale Weng Wai Chan Text Publishing
2020 Junior Fiction #Tumeke! Michael Petherick Massey University Press
2020 Young Adult Fiction Ursa Tina Shaw Walker Books Australia
2020 Young Adult Fiction Afakasi Woman Lani Wendt Young One Tree House
2020 Non-Fiction Mophead: How your Difference Makes a Difference Selina Tusitala Marsh Auckland University Press
2020 Non-Fiction The Adventures of Tupaia Courtney Sina Meredith Mat Tait Allen & Unwin
2020 Te Reo Māori Te Kī Taurangi a Puanga: He pūrākau Matariki Kirsty Wadsworth Munro Te Whata Scholastic NZ

See also

  • List of New Zealand literary awards
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