NZ Book Awards for Children and YA: Non-Fiction Award

Also known as the Elsie Locke Award, here’s this year’s Non-Fiction Award shortlist. Click on the titles for catalogue information.

Atua: Māori Gods and Heroes by Gavin Bishop
With stories spanning the eras of creation to the migration, Gavin Bishop’s new book is the perfect compendium that brings together the most exciting and awe-inspiring Māori legends. Complimented with stunning art and design this is a lovely big book sure to have broad appeal. Gavin Bishop needs no introduction when it comes to awards – he’s already won a raft of them as well as exhibiting his art internationally.

Kia Kaha: A Storybook of Māori who Changed the World by Stacey Morrison and Jeremy Sherlock
This is a collection of true stories about Māori who have done incredible things. There are sportspeople, actors, artists and writers, film makers, singers – everyone from Sir Āpirana Ngata to Taika Waititi, from Georgina Beyer to Keisha Castle-Hughes. What special gifts made them the people they became? Stacey Morrison is a well-known television broadcaster and co-author of several Māori language books; Jeremy Sherlock is a freelance publishing consultant.

Why Is That Spider Dancing? by Simon Pollard and Phil Sirvid
This book takes a look at New Zealand’s arachnids – the spiders, ticks, mites and harvestmen that share our world. How they build their webs, hunt, eat and defend themselves. The book is superbly illustrated with close-up photography and also looks at some of the arachnid scientists who have helped us understand these creatures better. Simon Pollard is a spider biologist, natural history photographer and writer; Philip Sirvid is a curator with the Te Papa Natural History Team.

Draw Some Awesome by Donovan Bixley
Here Bixley shares some trade secrets in a book that will show you how to draw. You get warm-up exercises, mark-making, sketching and tricks to getting your imagination going. There’s the nitty gritty of perspective, copying, thumbnails and shading and even how to draw a unicorn. And lots more. Bixley has a load of best-sellers to his name including the Flying Furrballs series, his recent Maui series and  the very popular Wheels on the Bus.

How Do I Feel? A Dictionary of Emotions for Children by Rebekah Lipp, illustrated by Craig Phillips
The cover says that this book has over sixty definitions to help children identify and understand their emotions. It features Aroha and friends as they try to figure out why they feel like they do and how to feel better. Designed to help anyone from five to 105, this useful book follows the previous books, Aroha’s Way and Aroha Knows from the same author/illustrator partnership.

5 July 2022

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