The finalists for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. There are 35 finalists total in seven categories on the shortlist. One category is specifically for Māori books, that category saw a record number of entries for the award this year. If you follow the link above, you can see those titles. Here are the other finalists:

PICTURE BOOK AWARD

 

Fuzzy Doodle by Melinda Szymanik, illustrated by Donovan Bixley

Gwendolyn! by Juliette MacIver, illustrated by Terri Rose Baynton

 

My Grandpa is a Dinosaur by Richard Fairgray and Terry Jones, illustrated by Richard Fairgray

The Singing Dolphin/Te Aihe i Waiata by Mere Whaanga

That’s Not a Hippopotamus! by Juliette MacIver, illustrated by Sarah Davis

 

ESTHER GLEN AWARD FOR JUNIOR FICTION

 

Helper and Helper by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop

My New Zealand Story: Bastion Point by Tania Roxborogh

 

Sunken Forest by Des Hunt

The Discombobulated Life of Summer Rain by Julie Lamb

The Impossible Boy by Leonie Agnew

 

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

 

Coming Home to Roost by Mary-anne Scott

Kiwis at War 1916: Dig for Victory by David Hair

 

Like Nobody’s Watching by LJ Ritchie

Shooting Stars by Brian Falkner

The Severed Land by Maurice Gee

 

ELSIE LOCKE AWARD FOR NON-FICTION

 

From Moa to Dinosaurs: Explore & discover ancient New Zealand by Gillian Candler, illustrated by Ned Barraud

Jack and Charlie: Boys of the Bush by Josh James Marcotte and Jack Marcotte

 

The Cuckoo and the Warbler by Kennedy Warne, illustrated by Heather Hunt

The Genius of Bugs by Simon Pollard

Torty and the Soldier by Jennifer Beck, illustrated by Fifi Colston

 

RUSSELL CLARK AWARD FOR ILLUSTRATION

 

Fuzzy Doodle, illustrated by Donovan Bixley, written by Melinda Szymanik

Gladys Goes to War, illustrated by Jenny Cooper, written by Glyn Harper

 

If I Was a Banana, illustrated by Kieran Rynhart, written by Alexandra Tylee

Snark: Being a true history of the expedition that discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock . . . and its tragic aftermath, illustrated and written by David Elliot (after Lewis Carroll)

The Day the Costumes Stuck by Toby Morris

 

BEST FIRST BOOK AWARD

 

Awatea’s Treasure by Fraser Smith

Like Nobody’s Watching by LJ Ritchie

 

The Discombobulation of Summer Rain by Julie Lamb

The Mouse and the Octopus by Lisala Halapua

Wars in the Whitecloud: Wairau, 1843 by Matthew H McKinley