Freedom of Choice: How The Banning of Books Is Never A Good Thing

I struggled to write this post. I started. I stopped. More times than you can imagine and very nearly deleted the whole damn thing and gave up.  But in the end I didn't.

Being a writer is hard.  Really, really hard.

It's especially hard when you've written something only for others to come out and tear not only what you have written apart but who you are as a person.

And I'm not speaking about a critical review (which is probably hard enough to take if you get a bad one) but about the furore that Into the River has created by winning the NZ Post Children's book of the year award.

The kind of furore where people are asking for the the book and the author to be stripped of the award, to be banned from shops and schools and basically where people seem to want the author's head on a platter.

Ted Dawe is a brave, brave man.

I've never met him or talked to him.  He does, though, have my utmost respect for writing something that was important to him and putting it out there for others to read.

And that's a good thing.

We might wish that the world was one of fluffy bunnies and kittens but the reality is quite different. And we need to know this.

Because only by knowing this can we have respect, acceptance and understanding for ourselves and for others.

Should children and young adults be encouraged to look at the positive aspects of life?  Most definitely yes.

Should they be blocked, banned and prevented from knowing about the hard aspects of life? Most definitely not.

Because without the bad, how do we hope to create a better place, a better world for everyone and everything that lives in it?

Surely that is the greatest thing we can pass onto the next generation.

And Tango makes three / by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

A true story of 2 penguins who were given an egg to nurture and care for and who raised the chick that hatch to form a family.  Sounds kinda cute so far. Which it should be for a children's picture book.

But what if I said that the 2 penguins were both males.

If like me, this probably didn't even register and you just went awww how wonderful.  Others out there didn't have quite the same reaction.

Since 2006 it has made the ALA top ten list of banned books 6 times. Because apparently 2 male penguins raising a chick promotes same sex lifestyle and that is wrong.

And no I'm not even kidding.

The perks of being a wallflower / Stephen Chbosky

Struggling to find our place in the world is something that we all go through.  Whether as a teenager or as an adult.  We all have issues and we all deal with those issues in a way that is unique to us.

Perks is a realistic look at teenage life to today.  It's honest.  It's painful.  It doesn't hold back.  And all of that makes it something worthwhile for all teens and adults to read.

It's also appeared on the ALA banned book list 5 times in the last decade.  Because it seems being honest about what teens are really going through is something that we should ignore.

Speak / Laurie Halse Anderson.

Sometimes life is hard.  And sometimes it goes beyond the realms of hard and in to the truly horrific.

Speak is one such book.

It is also almost overwhelming sad and beautiful, all at the same time.  It's about finding your voice even in the face of something terrible like rape.

Sadly some people see this as a bad thing and called for the book to banned because it "exposed children to immorality"

Th1rteen r3asons why / by Jay Asher

Some people can handle the knocks that life gives you and others struggle against them until it all gets too much.

Suicide always leaves a wake of unanswered questions for those left behind.  But what if the person left a series of recorded messages, detailing their thoughts and feelings ?

In Th1irteen r3asons Hannah does just this. Revealing how one little lie can snowball out of control and the ramifications of that one lie, not just on the victim but on everyone involved.

Once again though there are some who think that talking about suicide is just encouraging others to follow suit.  Oh yes teenagers are just lemmings without the ability to think for themselves.

The fault in our stars / John Green

Cancer is no laughing matter. I know from personal experience having seen someone I love die from it.

But living with death also gives you an appreciation for life and in The Fault In Our Stars Hazel and Augustus are two teenagers who believe that life is for living even when death is knocking at the door.

They want to experience all that life has to offer and try to do just that.

But talking about life and life experiences including wanting to know what sex feels like is something that others see as something to hide and ban, especially when it concerns young adults, who shouldn't have sexual desire, who shouldn't want to share something intimate with the one they love.

The diary of a young girl / Anne Frank

This is my book.  If I was asked to pick the book that meant the most to me, that was my favourite of all time then this would be it.

Words can not begin to describe how wonderful this book is.  It's about being alive, about what it means to be human, about what it is to live a life where all you know is hate and persecution.

That it has made several banned and/or challenged books lists just wants to make me cry.  Because apparently it's "too depressing".

And no I really am not kidding. Not even in the slightest.

It also has some sexual content. Like about 2 paragraphs. And that is also reason even to ban it. THAT'S what some people got from this book? It's promotes sex and sexual feelings?  Really???

I despair.  I really do.

This book and all of the above books are something that everyone should read, teens and adults alike.  Hopefully like me you'll come away with feeling that life is beautiful and precious and something to celebrate

The 2012 NZ Post finalists have been announced ...

It's the end of February and the judges for the New Zealand Post Children's Books Awards have *finally* let us in on their selection for the award finalists for 2012.

A wide variety of authors & illustrators are listed in the four categories - picture book, junior fiction, young adult fiction and non-fiction.

One of the talking points this year is that a graphic novel, Shaolin Burning by Ant Sang, has made it onto the picture book list.

By the end of May, we'll know who the winners are. In the meantime, kids can vote for the Children's Choice award - there's prizes up for grabs!

I'm not quite brave enough to predict the winners yet, as I haven't read them all, but Rāhui by Chris Szekely and Digging up the Past by David Veart are stand outs of the books I have seen so far.

Award winners - a useful tool for choosing what to read?

There's plenty awards around, at both national and international level, whether it's for movies, music or books. Does it influence what you watch, read, listen to?

For me, the longlist and the shortlist of various book awards means a lot. Someone else has gone to the trouble of pre-reading a book for me, and making a judgement call. It saves me the time of reading *everything* published in a given year, or genre, and let's me start with some of the best books.

So, a shortlist for an award either gives me a ready-made list of titles, authors and/or illustrators that I might be interested in (if I have enjoyed books that have won the award previously), or it gives me a list of books to avoid (if I haven't enjoyed previous award winning titles).

I've learnt that I generally don't enjoy books that have won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, but I often enjoy books that have won the Commonwealth Book Prize. I have a friend who is the complete opposite to me - she actively seeks out anything on the Man Booker Prize shortlist.

Some 2011 book award winners include

Blue Smoke by Chris Bourke - New Zealand Post Book of the Year

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - The Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis - The Hugo Award

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna - Commonwealth Writers' Prize

So, does it make a difference for you when you see "award winner" on the front of a book cover?

D.E.A.R. you

D.E.A.R. - Drop Everything And Read. Go on - I dare you.

As part of the NZ Post Children's Book Festival this week, today is the day we are encouraging everyone to drop everything and read. And when you look outside your window at the weather in our part of the world, you can't really argue that there is anything better to do. I ventured out at lunchtime and the wind and rain varied between horizontal or just slightly diagonal. In other words - miserable.

So pull out all those books you have from the library (or some of your own favourites from your shelves), give yourself half an hour (or more) off and indulge in a little light romance, high adventure or go on a fact finding mission. Even if it's a magazine or newspaper. Make a point to take some time to read today. When the kids get home tonight, share a book with them. They can read to you - you can read to them. It's really not that hard to take ten minutes to do this.

At the same time, put on some Kiwi music as either background or to have a sing along to for NZ Music month. Just because the sun isn't smiling, you don't have to be glum as well.

At this point I would add some recommendations, but as some of you may have already discovered we are having some computer issues today, so just pick up the nearest book and read. Apologies for any inconvenience our website issues are causing. If you have any questions, please give us a call. We are working on the problem and expect it to be back up and running by mid afternoon.

NZ Post Children's Book Awards Festival

Auckland Libraries are celebrating the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards from the 9th to the 22nd of May. There are plenty of events happening in all our libraries including special Storytimes, Big Read's, Author visits, Treasure Hunts and more.

Some of this year’s New Zealand Post Children’s Book Award finalists wil be visiting our libraries to speak about their books and illustrations.

Teens can enter the ‘And then what?!’ short story competition and win prizes.

For details of all events and the competition go to our Auckland Libraries events page.

There are some great finalists in this year's list of finalists. We have talked about them already on some of our previous blog entries so check it out earlier in April.

Super Special Top 5 for Friday Part 2

Here's part two of the Super Special Top 5 for Friday. This week we are covering off the other two sections in the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2011.

Introducing Young Adult Fiction

Ebony Hill Anna Mackenzie. Publisher Random House New Zealand Target age 12+. Sequel to The Sea-wreck stranger. Vidya - a city in ruins - and Ebony Hill: two halves of a community trying to find a way forward from the tragedy of the past. But theirs is not the only way. In a battle for survival, is endurance enough? Is there more than one kind of courage? As conflict rages, Ness and her fellow islander Ronan must come to terms with themselves, with each other and with their attitudes towards violence and belonging. Will they be strong enough to survive the decisions they must make?.

Fierce September Fleur Beale. Publisher Random House New Zealand. Target age 12+. Book 2 in the Juno of Taris series. Juno and the Taris inhabitants must leave their dying island to live on the Outside, a seemingly hostile place. Juno enjoys the new freedoms and choices now available to her. But Taris doesn't give up its hold so easily, and she is shocked to find the island held more secrets than any of them knew.

Guardian of the Dead Karen Healey. Publisher Allen & Unwin Target age 14+. At her boarding school in New Zealand, Ellie Spencer is like any ordinary teen: she hangs out with her best friend, Kevin; obsesses over her crush on a mysterious boy; and her biggest worry is her essay deadline. Until everything changes... In the foggy woods near the school, something ancient and deadly is waiting.

The Limping Man Maurice Gee. Publisher Penguin Group (NZ) Target age 10+. Book 3 in the Salt series. When Hana's mam chooses to swallow frogweed poison rather than die in the great witch-burning in People's Square, Hana flees the burrows before she too is taken. Deep in the forest she meets Ben, son of Lo, and the two journey back to the burrows to find a way to destroy the Limping Man before his evil consumes the world. But first they must discover the secret of his strength.

Smiling Jack Ken Catran. Publisher HarperCollins Publishers. Target age 12+. Robert lives in a small, prosperous rural town where his father is a respected and trusted pillar of the local community. When Robert's father and uncle are killed in road accident his comfortable world rapidly begins to unravel. With so much to deal with, he barely thinks about the evil grin on the playing card Jack found at the site of the accident. Until the second death, and the third, when once again Jack's leering malicious grin is found nearby. As Robert realises he never knew his father, those people his father betrayed turn against him, and he is forced to look deep into the shadows that are closing in if he is to get out alive.

Introducing Non-Fiction
The Kiwi Fossil Hunter's Handbook James Crampton & Marianna Terezow. Publisher Random House New Zealand Target age 8+. Kids are fascinated by dinosaurs, and love the idea of the fossils they have left behind. New Zealand has a rich fossil record which is accessible to the amateur fossil-hunter in locations around New Zealand, including shells and plant remains as well as the bones, teeth and other remnants of ancient reptiles, birds and fish. This book features locations throughout New Zealand where fossils can be found, and includes lots of photos

The life cycle of the Pukeko Betty Brownlie. Publisher Scholastic New Zealand Target age 6+. Uses images and educational text to describe the life cycle of the pūkeko.

Sensational Survivors Sandra Morris. Publisher Walker Books Australia. Target age 6+. An ancient land isolated by vast oceans, New Zealand is home to many fascinating creatures. From a prehistoric reptile to one of the world's largest insects, you'll discover some of the most unusual and impressive species on our planet

Who's Cooking Tonight? Claire Gourley & Glenda Gourley. Publisher Penguin Group (NZ) Target age 12+. Based on a popular website, www.itsmyturntocooktonight.com, Who's Cooking Tonight? is a one-of-a kind cookbook, written by a teenager especially for other teenagers.

Zero Hour: The Anzacs on the Western Front Leon Davidson. Text Publishing Company. Target age 13+. The First World War was only meant to last six months. When the Australians and New Zealanders arrived at the Western Front in 1916, the fighting had been going for a year and a half and there was no end in sight. The men took their place in a line of trenches that spread through Belgium and France from the North Sea to the Swiss Alps.

Don't forget there is also a People's Choice Award which gives you the chance to win as well. Call into the Library to check out the books and pick up your voting card. Or go online to the NZ Post Book Awards website.

Super Special Top 5 for Friday Part 1

It's a massive Top 5 for Friday this week, with not just one list, but two. This week we are counting down the five finalists in two of the sections of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards 2011.

Introducing Picture Books
Baa Baa Smart Sheep Mark Sommerset & Rowan Sommerset. Publisher Dreamboat. Target age 3+. Little Baa Baa is bored so he decides to play a practical joke, telling Quirky Turkey that the pile of round, brown things on the ground are "Smarty Tablets". Who is smarter, sheep or turkey?
A Dog Like That! Janene Cooper & Evie Kemp. Publisher Duck Creek Press. Target age 2+ . All dogs should be like this! Everybody tells her how dogs should be, but this girl knows better. This is a story about a little girl and her unruly, loveable best friend. Local author.
Hill & Hole Kyle Mewburn & Vasanti Unka. Publisher Penguin Group (NZ). Target age 3+. Hill loves being a hill, but sometimes he wishes he could feel the earth breathing beneath him. Hole loves being a hole, but sometimes wishes he could see the sun rising. Their friend Mole is happy to help and soon Hole is a hill, and Hill is a hole, but what at first seemed wonderful turns out to be not so great after all. Will they find a solution to their problem?
Marmaduke Duck and the Marmalade Jam Juliette MacIver & Sarah Davis. Publisher Scholastic New Zealand. Target age 4+ . Down in the woods, not far from the sea, Marmaduke Duck found a grapefruit tree. What luck! cried the duck. How lucky I am! I'll take some and make some marmalade jam. The smell of Marmaduke Duck's marmalade jam cooking draws a lot of other animals to his river.
The Moon & Farmer McPhee Margaret Mahy & David Elliot. Publisher Random House New Zealand. Target age 4+. A heart-warming story - with lots of fun wordplay - about a grumpy farmer whose animals keep him awake at night singing and dancing by the light of the moon. Eventually he is won over by the moon and the animals and learns how to be happy.

Introducing Junior Fiction
Finnigan & the Pirates Sherryl Jordan. Publisher Scholastic New Zealand. Target age 7+. Wildbloode the Wicked is the fiercest, most ferocious pirate in all the seven seas. All she wants is for her nephew to follow in her footsteps. But Finnigan's not interested in piratical pillaging. All he wants to do... is dance!
The Haystack Jack Lasenby. Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Target age 8+. Maggie's growing up during the Great Depression without her mother in the little Waikato dairying township of Waharoa.
Hollie Chips Anna Gowan. Publisher Scholastic New Zealand Target age 8+. Hollie Chips is an unusual girl. Not just because she has one blue eye and one brown eye... but she just cannot tell a lie, no matter how small. So when she finds out that the unscrupulous Barry Buckscud has been lying to her and her neighbours, she plans to get even.
Shadow of the Boyd Diana Menefy. Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Target age 8+. Historical novel based around the events of the Boyd masscre in which two young boys, a Māori and Pakeha, find their friendship stretched to breaking point.
Tussock Elizabeth Pulford. Publisher Walker Books Australia Target age 9+. When a family is struck by tragedy a little hope is all that is needed. When Kate and Madeline's father goes missing on a routine local flight, family life is thrown into chaos. While the close rural community help the family deal with their grief, Kate lights a lamp every night in the window of the old tin hut on the hill in the hope that it will help her father find his way home. Madeline invests her hope in building a replica of the fabled stone man. But it is the appearance of the troubled Troy that brings comfort to Kate in the most unexpected way. To Kate, Troy seems nearly as lost as her father and the mystery surrounding him and also the stone man leads Kate into dangerous territory.

There is also a People's Choice award. Call into the Library and pick up a voting card or go online to the NZ Post Book Awards website.

New Zealand Post Book Award winners

Judith Binney has won the 2010 New Zealand Post Book of the Year award for her work Encircled Lands, a book about Tūhoe’s quest for self-government of their lands. Tūhoe, represented by kaumatua Wharehuia Milroy and Pou Temara, responded in numbers to the presentation at the gala awards ceremony held in Auckland last Friday night. Last year, Tūhoe bestowed Binney with the name Tomoirangi o Te Aroha (a little cloud of rain from heaven) in recognition of her work.
New Zealand Post Book Awards judge, Paul Diamond, described the winning work as one that will profoundly change our understanding of our shared history. ‘Encircled Lands is an exhaustive, comprehensive history of Te Rohe Pōtae o Te Urewera, the only autonomous tribal district that was recognised in law. Not only does it fulfill the author’s hopes of revealing an almost unknown history to a new audience, it also deftly illustrates why the history of the Urewera and its people continues to resonate.’

Debut novelist, Alison Wong won the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Award for Fiction for her book, As The Earth Turns Silver, ahead of established writers, Fiona Farrell and Owen Marshall.
Charmaine Pountney said Wong brings a powerful new voice and new themes to New Zealand fiction. ‘Based on meticulous research, this novel opens new windows on the development of our nation; it also opens our hearts to the anguish caused by racism, ignorance, failures in family relationship and communication, and war. The book is a delight to look at and hold, as well as deeply moving to read.'

Brian Turner, a leading biographer, essayist, poet and conservationist, was presented with the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Award for Poetry for his collection, Just This, described by judge Elizabeth Smither as a life’s work in its reach, its depth and its deceptive plainness of surface.
'Just This dares to ask the profoundest questions about place and human existence, how we live now and how we hand the world on. It is dangerous poetry because it addresses ethics but at the same time it is leavened with a sweet and sly self-awareness as it searches for “something you can have faith in, swear by”. The journey from the first poem to the last is a revelation,’ says Smither.

In a tightly fought contest that had judges reaching for superlatives, co-owner of Wellington’s famed Logan Brown restaurant, celebrity chef and passionate fisherman, Al Brown won the Illustrated Non-fiction category for his book Go Fish: Recipes and stories from the New Zealand Coast. Awards’ judge Neville Peat described Go Fish as a seafood recipe book with edge and attitude. ‘Colourful images pour from the pages and spicing up the illustrative side are busy montages demonstrating how to prepare crayfish, crab and paua, and how to fillet a flounder – no mean feat, any of this. The recipes themselves, easy to follow, employ an engaging mix of type sizes and layout techniques. For a cookbook, it’s a remarkable page-turner,’ says Peat. Go Fish also won this year’s coveted People’s Choice Award as voted by thousands of readers nationwide.

In a substantially increased prize-pool from previous years, the New Zealand Post Book of the Year Award winner received $15,000. Winners of the four Category Awards each received $10,000 and the People’s Choice Award winner $5,000.

2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards finalists have been announced!

The finalists for the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2010* have been announced. The Awards celebrate excellence, identifying the very best books written by New Zealanders.

"Books are judged in four main categories: Poetry, Fiction, Illustrated Non-fiction and General Non-fiction. A finalist list of 16 will be comprised of: 3 Poetry finalists, 3 Fiction finalists and 5 finalists in both the Illustrated Non‐fiction and General Non‐fiction categories. One Book of the Year will be chosen from these 16 finalists.

Books submitted in the four main categories, written by first‐time authors, are also eligible to win the New Zealand Society of Authors Best First Book Awards for Poetry, Fiction and Non‐fiction.

Books written entirely in Te Reo, are judged for the Māori Language Award.

The extremely popular Readers’ Choice Award is the public’s opportunity to vote for their favourite book of the 16 finalist titles, as selected by the judges, either online or by paper ballot. Voting opens every year with the public announcement of the finalist list."

Fiction Category
As the Earth Turns Silver Alison Wong
Limestone Fiona Farrell
Living as a Moon Owen Marshall

Poetry Category
Just This Brian Turner
The Lustre Jug Bernadette Hall (Not held at Rodney)
The Tram Conductor’s Blue Cap Michael Harlow

General Non-Fiction Category
Aphrodite's island : the European discovery of Tahiti Anne Salmond
Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its Allies, 1939-1945 Gerald Hensley
Cone Ten Down: Studio pottery in New Zealand, 1945-1980 Moyra Elliott and Damian Skinner
Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921 Judith Binney
The Invention of New Zealand Art & National Identity, 1930-1970 Francis Pound

Illustrated Non-Fiction Category
Art at Te Papa William McAloon (editor)
Go Fish: Recipes and stories from the New Zealand Coast Al Brown
Māori Architecture: From fale to wharenui and beyond Deidre Brown
Marti Friedlander Leonard Bell
Mrkusich: The Art of Transformation Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling (Not held at Rodney)

Best First Book Award Winners 2010
NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction Award Winner
Relief Anna Taylor
NZSA Jessie Mackay Best First Book of Poetry Award Winner
Fast Talking PI Selina Tusitala Marsh
NZSA E.H. McCormick Best First Book of Non-Fiction Award Winner
Trust: A True Story of Women & Gangs Pip Desmond

*formerly known as the Montana Book Awards

Winners of the 2010 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards

Congratulations to the winners in the 2010 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

Picture Book Category
Old Hu-Hu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Rachel Driscoll (Scholastic New Zealand) in conjunction with the Te reo edition: Hū-Hū Koroheke, translated by Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira (Scholastic New Zealand)

Non-fiction Category
E3 Call Home by Janet Hunt (Random House New Zealand)

Junior Fiction Category
The Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe (Longacre Press)

Young Adult Fiction Category
Blood of the Lamb: The Crossing by Mandy Hager (Random House New Zealand)

More great Children's Books

Time to highlight some more of the books which are finalists in the 2010 NZ Post Children's Book Awards.

The Word Witch is an apt description for renowned Kiwi children's author Margaret Mahy. Tessa Duder has collected some of her poems, David Elliot has provided illustrations and the result is this fantastic book which both parents and children will chuckle over. The description in the "Good Book Guide" is brilliant. "The Word Witch can lasso with a limerick, haunt with a haiku and wrap you tight in a rhyme as quick as lightning. Her cauldron is a dictionary, her wand a might pen, and she stirs her words at midnight, making tempting treats for children."

If you haven't already heard of The Wonky Donkey then there are obviously no children in your life. What started out as an award-winning song by Craig Smith is in the running to become an award winning book. It is cheeky, mischevious and fun.

The ever popular Piggity Wiggity Jiggity Jig is back, this time going on a lunchtime visit to his Dad's cafe. Lovely lilting language to get the tongue around and also a good read to pick up for those who have picky eaters in the family. Look out soon for the third Piggity book by Diana Neild and illustrator Philip Webb - Piggity Wiggity Jiggity Jig and the School Concert.

Old Hu-Hu is a lovely picture book by Kyle Mewburn celebrating life. Hu-Hu-Too is looking for Old Hu-Hu. "Old Hu-Hu flew to the moon and back. Then fellto the ground. Dead." But Hu-Hu-Too doesn't understand, especially wheneveryone tells him something different. The simple story is supported bystunning illustrations from Rachel Driscoll. It is a perfect book with aKiwi flavour to share with any child, but would be especially good to helpthose who have lost someone special, be it human or pet.

NZ Post have produced their annual Kiwi Kids' Good Book Guide and copies of this are available at your local library.

Stories and Science combined in NZ Post finalists

Here are another two of the finalists in the NZ Post Children's Book Awards.

One is by local Rodney author Maria Gill who is a Matakana resident. "Rangitoto : te toka tu moana : the rock standing in the ocean" is a superbly crafted book which successfully marries up several different strands. There is the story of Rangitoto from the beginning of time through until today, told in an easy read aloud style. There are also strands concentrating on the science of volcanic activity and on the flora and fauna through the evolution of the island. Heather Arnold has provided skilled illustrations to reflect all these different parts of the book.

Similar in that it both tells a story and provides background information on the science is "E3 call home: a true story of godwit migration and misadventure" by Janet Hunt. E3 the godwit was tagged in February 2007, about a month before the flock of birds began their annual migration to Alaska. But E3 was different from the rest of the birds, including E7 who travelled with them. He struggled to keep up and instead of heading north, he ended up turning back and getting lost in Australia. Will everyone make it back to New Zealand? There's lots packed into the pages of this children's book.

NZ Post Book Festival comes to Rodney

The annual New Zealand Post Book Awards are announced later this month. The Awards encourage NZ children to read and enjoy books. Activities and events are planned nationwide in a celebration of our best books for writers and teens.

Pigs at Rodney
Celebrate Piggity Wiggity Jiggity Jig Goes to Dad’s Café with pig stories, and crafts.
Wednesday 12 May 3.30pm at Helensville and Mahurangi East Libraries
Thursday 13 May 3.30 pm at Kumeu and Warkworth Libraries
Thursday 13 May 6.30 pm at Whangaparaoa Library

Author Talk

On Tuesday 11 May, Gavin Bishop, author and illustrator extraordinaire will be visiting Kumeu Library at 1.30 pm. There is limited space but members of the public are welcome. Check with the library.

Secret Snippets Competition

Collect your entry form from your local library and try to guess the title of the NZ Post Book finalist from the snippet on the entry form. There are two competitions, one for children's picture books and the other for teenagers. We have some fantastic prizes for Rodney entrants including an MP3 player.

For more information one what is happening elsewhere in North Shore, check this flyer.

Brilliant Children's Fiction

I have finally managed to catch up on some of my reading and over the weekend powered through some of the New Zealand Post Children's Book Award finalists for 2010. The first two are absolute page turners.

The Mine’s Afire! The Journal of Tommy Carter, Brunnerton, 1896
Susan Battye and Thelma Eakin

The My Story New Zealand series heads to the West Coast mining community . Tommy could be a typical boy from your school. He spends his time catching eels, swimming in the River without his mother knowing, playing cricket with his friends, playing in the local band and looking forward to the day when he leaves school and gets a job. The only difference is this is 1896, times are tough and one of only jobs available is going down into the coal mine, something Tommy is not sure he wants to do. It’s hard work, low paid and extremely dangerous.

One day there is a huge boom and smoke starts billowing from the entrance to the mine. How many lives will be lost and how will it affect Tommy and his family? When he finishes school will he still have to go down the mines to work?

This is a great addition to the My Story series which explore events in New Zealand’s history through the eyes of children like you.

Cry of the Taniwha
Des Hunt
Des Hunt is back to his absolute best with his latest book. What starts out as a long boring holiday with his grandmother in Rotorua soon becomes much more interesting for Matt with Juzza the strange kid from next door who wants to join one of the local gangs, not to mention that awful smell.

To keep busy Matt spends some time in the forest over the fence with his home made metal detector. But instead of the treasure he wants to find, he uncovers a skull buried under the roots of a tree. When the rest of the skeleton is unearthed, they find the hands locked into old fashioned police handcuffs.

How did he get there? What is his story? And might there still be a treasure? The gangs seem to think so and they want Matt to help them find it…. Or else!

An action-packed page turner which blends history and contemporary adventure, with Maori mythology and the science of one of the most volcanic areas of New Zealand. This book is one of my “must-reads” of the 2010.

Would you like to see your name in print?

Do you know anyone at primary school who is a budding author or poet? Are you one? Then you are going to be really interested in this competition.

New Zealand Post, the major sponsor of the Children's Book Awards, wants to celebrate not just what is written for young Kiwis, but their own writing as well.

So they are creating a very special book and are asking Kiwi Kids to share their magic by contributing a story or poem. The best 50 pieces (judged by a panel of well known New Zealand authors) will be professionally illustrated and published.

This competition is open to primary school aged children and entries up to 300 words must be submitted by 30th April 2010.

Entry forms are in the Rodney Libraries or visit http://www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz/ for more information and some hints to start you off on your story.

NZ Post Children's Book Awards Finalists 2010

The finalists for the New Zealand Post Childrens Book Awards 2010 have been announced and there are some popular library favourites included in the list.

Picture Book Category
Cowshed Christmas by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Random House New Zealand)
Old Hu-Hu by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Rachel Driscoll (Scholastic New Zealand) in conjunction with the Te reo edition: Hū-Hū Koroheke, translated by Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira (Scholastic New Zealand)
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig Goes to Dad's Cafe by Diana Neild, illustrated by Philip Webb (Scholastic New Zealand)
The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith, illustrated by Katz Cowley (Scholastic New Zealand)
The Word Witch by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by David Elliot and edited by Tessa Duder (HarperCollins Publishers)
Non-fiction Category:
Ben & Mark: Boys of the High Country by Christine Fernyhough, and John Bougen
(Random House New Zealand)
Dear Alison, edited by Simon Pollard (Penguin NZ)
E3 Call Home by Janet Hunt (Random House New Zealand)
Rangitoto by Maria Gill, illustrated by Heather Arnold (Puffin Books)

Willie Apiata, VC: The Reluctant Hero by Paul Little and John Lockyer (Puffin Books)

Junior Fiction Category:
Cry of the Taniwha by Des Hunt (HarperCollins Publishers)
Friends: Snake and Lizard by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Gecko Press)
The Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe (Longacre Press)
My Story: The Mine's Afire! By Susan Battye and Thelma Eakin (Scholastic New Zealand)
Sting by Raymond Huber (Walker Books)

Young Adult Fiction Category:
Banquo's Son by T.K. Roxborogh (Penguin NZ)
The Beginner's Guide to Living by Lia Hills (Text Publishing)
Blood of the Lamb: The Crossing by Mandy Hager (Random House New Zealand)
Brainjack by Brian Falkner (Walker Books)
End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale (Random House New Zealand)

Congratulations must go to local Matakana author Maria Gill for making the finalists list with one of her three releases last year. Rangitoto is a fantastic book on telling several stories seamlessly at the same time. It was well received by critics and is a favourite of mine. Regular readers of this blog and school children around Rodney will recognise Maria as she helped us out with our School Holiday programmes last year when she launched the book. Her exploding volcano model was very popular. Good luck for the finals Maria.

NZ Post Book awards finalists announced

Emerging authors and illustrators battle it out with our long-time writing heroes in the nation’s most prestigious children’s book awards this year.
Announced on Monday, the finalists in the 2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults include names loved by generations of Kiwis including Joy Cowley, Maurice Gee and Jack Lasenby. Alongside them are some exciting new talent in New Zealand children’s literature.
"The wide range of themes, places and times represented in this year’s selection are a fantastic snapshot of who we are as Kiwis and as a nation. There are rhyming stories that feature animals; humorous yet thought-provoking contemporary fiction; stories that look forwards as well as backwards, as far back as pre-history; science fiction, fantasy and realism. All these great books offer New Zealand children and young adults a veritable feast of challenging, stimulating and engrossing reading, as well as fresh, new ways of looking at the world" says New Zealand Post Book Awards judges’ convenor, Bill Nagelkerke.
The finalists were selected from more than 130 children’s books published in New Zealand in 2008 and submitted for the awards.
Nagelkerke, a past New Zealand Post finalist and former children’s librarian is joined on the judging panel by children’s editor and career bookseller, Jenni Keestra and children’s literature reviewer and librarian, Rosemary Tisdall. Together they will decide which author will earn the New Zealand Post Book of the Year prize and will choose winners from across the four categories. Winners will be announced on 20 May.

Picture Book
Duck's Stuck! by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O'Reilly.
Every Second Friday, by Kiri Lightfoot, illustrated by Ben Galbraith.
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig, by Diana Neild, illustrated by Philip Webb.
Roadworks, by Sally Sutton, illustrated by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson.

Non-fiction
Back and Beyond: New Zealand Painting for the Young and Curious, by Gregory O'Brien.
The Crafting of Narnia: The Art, Creatures, and Weapons from Weta Workshop, by Paul Tobin and Daniel Falconer.
High-Tech Legs, on Everest by Mark Inglis with Sarah Ell
Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers, by Brigid Lowry.
Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood, by Gavin Bishop.

Junior Fiction
Chicken Feathers, by Joy Cowley, illustrated by David Elliot.
Enemy at the Gate, by Philippa Werry.
Five (and a bit) Days in the Life of Ozzie Kingsford, by Val Bird, illustrated by Rebecca Cundy.
Old Drumble, by Jack Lasenby.
Payback, by Michelle Kelly.

Young Adult Fiction
The 10 pm Question, by Kate de Goldi.
Chronicles of Stone 1, Scorched Bone, by Vincent Ford.
Gool, by Maurice Gee.
Juno of Taris, by Fleur Beale.
The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Falkner.