The New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults are a chance to celebrate Kiwi authors and illustrators as they bring creativity, culture, and passion to the creation of amazing stories for young people.
Whether you’re a household of avid readers, looking for new tales for an evening storytime, or browsing for new books to add to the bookshelf at home, this year’s contestants offer a variety of tales to foster a lifelong love of reading.
This year’s winners offer a selection of new cultural classics, already enjoyed by children in over 800 schools across New Zealand thanks to the Hell Pizza Reading Challenge. Winners selected champion stories in both English and Te Reo Māori. So whether you’re browsing the shops or your local library for homegrown stories, check out the list of winners below!
A Guide to Rocks | He Taonga te Toka by Sacha Cotter, illustrated by Josh Morgan, translated by Kawata Teepa
- The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year
- BookHub Picture Book Award
- Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Translated into Te Reo Māori
Lately, things have been getting Charlie down. It’s like he’s got a big rock that just won’t go away. He talks to Dad about it, and Dad brings out a dusty old book with a lot of tough rules. The first rule is you don’t talk about rocks (feelings). But the rules make things worse – Charlie’s ‘rock’ gets bigger, and everything feels dark and scary. They need some new rules – fast.
Also available in Te Reo Māori
Dreamslinger by Graci Kim
- Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction
Enter a world of secrets and spells, dragons and phoenixes; a place where your wildest dreams — or your darkest nightmares — come to life . . .
The Lost Saint by Rachael Craw
- Wheelers Books Award for Young Adult Fiction
An action-packed time travel romance, perfect for young fans of Outlander and historical romantasy like Powerless.
Whenua: Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White
- Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction
From sleeping giants to battling mountains, fiery sisters to adventurous trees, dig into Whenua and discover eleven tales of how Aotearoa was formed beneath our feet. Whenua takes readers back in time with each pūrākau, exploring the ways in which Aotearoa’s land was formed and introducing children to legendary Māori figures and atua. A beautifully illustrated collection that will delight the whole whānau, from award-winning illustrator Isobel Joy Te Aho-White.
Kupe and the Great Octopus of Muturangi | Kupe me te Wheke nui a Muturangi by Mat Tait
- Russell Clark Award for Illustration
- Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Originally Written in Te Reo Māori
Kupe’s voyage to Aotearoa!
Kupe found that a huge, fearsome wheke (octopus) was taking all the fish in the ocean and the people of Hawaiki had nothing to eat.
So Kupe chased that wheke across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean).
Finally Hine-te-Aparangi, Kupe’s wife, saw land and a long white cloud: Aotearoa!
Find out what happened when the wheke and Kupe had a massive battle . . .
Also available in Te Reo Māori
Te Onehaumako by Zeb Tamihana
- NZSA Best First Book Award
This is a young adults novel in te reo Māori where we follow the story of Tawa, an inquisitive teenage boy. With a time-travelling shed located in his garden, Tawa takes a trip through time visiting ancient days, where he meets Mauwhare and his grandmother. Throughout the story, Tawa meets ancestors and paramount chiefs and soon realises there might be more to his grandmother and Mauwhare than meets the eye. Packed with excitement and unexpected turns along the way, Tawa discovers connections he couldn’t have imagined from the past that impact his world today.
20 August, 2026
