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PANZ Book Design Awards 2026 finalists

Wednesday, 29 July 2026   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

The finalists for the 2026 PANZ Book Design Awards have been announced by the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ).

Chosen from more than 130 entries across all categories, the finalists in each category are:

Penguin Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book

  • Atlas of the New Zealand Wars: Volume One 1834–1864, Early Engagements to the Second Taranaki War (Derek Leask, Auckland University Press), designed by Alan Deare & Dave McDonald (Area Design)
  • He Puāwai: A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers (Philip Garnock-Jones, Auckland University Press), designed by Duncan Munro (Lucky Stairs Studio)
  • The Len Lye Centre (edited by Zara Stanhope & Antony Rhodes, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre), designed by Tana Mitchell (Tana Mitchell Design)
  • Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street (Elizabeth Cox, Massey University Press), designed by Jo Bailey
  • New Zealand Photography Collected: 175 Years of Photography in Aotearoa (Athol McCredie, Te Papa Press), designed by Alan Deare and Dave McDonald (Area Design)
  • Sio fakaTonga ‘ae ‘Aati fakaTonga: Tongan Views of Tongan Arts (Hūfanga He-Ako-Moe Lotu, ‘Ōkusitino Māhina; Māui-Tava-He-Ako Tēvita Ka‘ili; Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai MNZM; Kula-ʻUli Publishing), designed by Shaun Naufahu & Giordano Zatta (Alt Group).

Award for Best Non-Illustrated Book

  • Black Sugarcane (Nafanua Purcell Kersel, Te Herenga Waka University Press), designed by Momoe i manu ae ala atea‘e Tasker (cover) and Ashleigh Young (interiors)
  • Capital Trees: The Arboreal Legacy of Te Upoko-o-te-Ika the Wellington Region (Susette Goldsmith, Te Papa Press), designed by Megan van Staden
  • Kim, A Journey Between Worlds (Kim Rangiaonui Logan, Ugly Hill Press), designed by Alan Deare and Dave McDonald (Area Design)
  • Ngā Oro me Ngā Iere a Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti – Sweet Harmonies in Song (Ōpōtiki Mai Tawhiti by Te Kahautu Maxwell, Huia Publishers), designed by Te Kani Price
  • The Origins of an Experimental Society: New Zealand, 1769–1860 (Erik Olssen, Auckland University Press), designed by Arch and Jane MacDonnell (Inhouse)
  • Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist (Mark Forman, Auckland University Press), designed by Arch and Jane MacDonnell (Inhouse).

Scholastic New Zealand Award for Best Children’s Book

  • A Guide to Rocks / He Taonga te Toka (Sacha Cotter, illustrated by Josh Morgan, Huia Publishers), designed by Te Kani Price, Tahlia Conrad-Hinga & Sophie Hooper
  • My First Ikura (Qiane Matata-Sipu, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (QIANE+co), designed by Chloē Reweti Design
  • Omnibird (Giselle Clarkson, Gecko Press), designed by Vida Kelly with Giselle Clarkson
  • Pūkeko Who-keko? (Toby Morris, Penguin Random House New Zealand), designed by Vida Kelly (Vida and Luke Kelly Design) with Toby Morris
  • Rākau: The Ancient Forests of Aotearoa (Ned Barraud, Te Papa Press), designed by Kate Barraclough (Kate Frances Design)
  • Twigs and Stones (Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press), designed by Vida Kelly with Gavin Bishop.

PANZ Award for Best Education Book or Series – Primary

  • The Living Tree: A New Zealand Habitat (Dave Gunson, Bateman Books), designed by Alice Bell and Dave Gunson
  • My First Ikura (Qiane Matata-Sipu, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White [QIANE+co]), designed by Chloē Reweti Design
  • Start Right My Topic Research Workbook (Lucy Pritchard, LearnWell), designed by Lucy Pritchard, Barnaby McBryde & Pietro Lubich.

PANZ Award for Best Education Book or Series – Secondary/Tertiary

  • Mana Moana: Ngā Urungi o Te Ohu Kaimoana Toitū mō Anamata / Navigators of Sustainable Fisheries for the Future (Carla Houkamau & Robert Pouwhare, Auckland University Press), designed by Neil Pardington Design (cover) and Amy Tansell (interiors)
  • Toitu te Whenua (Lauren Keenan, Penguin Random House), designed by Cat Taylor
  • Walker Maths – Phase 4: Foundation & Walker Maths – Phase 4: Elevation (Victoria & Charlotte Walker, Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited), designed by Cheryl Smith (Macarn Design).

Award for Best Cookbook or Lifestyle Book

  • Eat Wild (Sophie Merkens, Penguin Random House), designed by Megan van Staden
  • Family Cooking (Di McHardy, Mama’s Meals Limited), designed by Logan Smith (Sunday Best) (cover) and Georgia Yates (Sunday Best) (interiors)
  • The Hungry Cook (Olivia Galletly, Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand), designed by Megan van Staden
  • Māori Ora (Hira Nathan, illustrated by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho, Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand), designed by Megan van Staden, illustrations by Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho.

Allen & Unwin Award for Best General Cover

  • The Book of Guilt (Catherine Chidgey, Te Herenga Waka University Press), designed by Todd Atticus
  • The Last Living Cannibal (Airana Ngarewa, Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand), designed by Megan van Staden
  • Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World (Ruth Shaw, Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand), designed by Katrina Duncan, illustration by Sophie Watson.

HarperCollins Publishers Award for Best Cover

  • All Her Lives (Ingrid Horrocks, Te Herenga Waka University Press), designed by Sarah Wilkins
  • Black Sugarcane (Nafanua Purcell Kersel, Te Herenga Waka University Press), designed by Momoe i manu ae ala atea‘e Tasker (cover), and Ashleigh Young (interiors)
  • The Collector: Thomas Cheeseman and the Making of the Auckland Museum (Andrew McKay and Richard Wolfe, Massey University Press), designed by Carly Yates & Gideon Keith (Seven)
  • Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street (Elizabeth Cox, Massey University Press), designed by Jo Bailey
  • There Is a Horse in the Art Gallery! (Sarah Pepperle, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū), designed by Aaron Beehre
  • Whenua (edited by Chloe Cull, Felicity Milburn & Melanie Oliver, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū), designed by Aaron Beehre.

Te Papa Press Award for Best Typography

  • Atlas of the New Zealand Wars: Volume One 1834–1864, Early Engagements to the Second Taranaki War (Derek Leask, Auckland University Press), designed by Alan Deare & Dave McDonald (Area Design)
  • Black Sugarcane (Nafanua Purcell Kersel, Te Herenga Waka University Press), designed by Momoe i manu ae ala atea‘e Tasker (cover), and Ashleigh Young (interiors)
  • Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly (Craig Robertson, Auckland University Press), designed by Alan Deare & Dave McDonald (Area Design)
  • The Len Lye Centre (edited by Zara Stanhope & Antony Rhodes, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre), designed by Tana Mitchell (Tana Mitchell Design)
  • Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street (Elizabeth Cox, Massey University Press), designed by Jo Bailey
  • Sio fakaTonga ‘ae ‘Aati fakaTonga: Tongan Views of Tongan Arts (Hūfanga He-Ako-Moe Lotu, ‘Ōkusitino Māhina; Māui-Tava-He-Ako Tēvita Ka‘ili; Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai MNZM; Kula-ʻUli Publishing), designed by Shaun Naufahu & Giordano Zatta (Alt Group).

Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand Emerging Designer

Thomas Cumming

  • What Is It, If It Is Not This? (Thomas Cumming, self-published)
  • SYZYGY (Thomas Cumming, self-published)
  • 978-0-473-74052-8 [This Number is a Sentence] (Thomas Cumming & Krista Barnaby, self-published).

Victoria Wigzell

  • The Floral Dream (Olivia McCord, Potton & Burton).

This year’s judges were Messy Press co-founder Erica Harrison (convening judge), Carly Yates of Auckland-based design Studio Seven, designer, artist and lecturer George Hajian, and Lamplight Books co-owner Courtney Smith.

The judges noted that this year, simple design was “doing the heavy lifting as many of the shortlisted books are smaller formats and don’t have the same high specs often seen amongst finalists”, reported PANZ, adding that “the trend towards more neutral tones, observed last year, has continued with the colour palette leaning more towards sombre, earthy shades contrasted with pops of red and moody blues”.

“The judges were pleased to see a good spread of Māori and Pasifika titles represented this year and observed strong design principles rooted in te ao Māori and Pasifika-centric values,” said PANZ.

The winners in each category and the overall winner of the Gerard Reid Award for Best Book will be announced at a ceremony in Auckland on Thursday 24 September, where attendees will be able to vote for the People’s Choice Award. The People’s Choice Award will this year be renamed the Keely O’Shannessy People’s Choice Award, in tribute to the book designer who died this year.

More information is available on the Book Design Awards website.

 

Category: Awards Local news