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‘Snark’ takes out top prize at 2017 NZ Book Awards for Children and YA

David Elliot’s illustrated book for ‘grown-up children of all ages’, Snark: Being a True History of the Expedition that Discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock … and its Tragic Aftermath (Otago University Press), has taken out the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award and the Russell Clark Award for Illustration at this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

‘David Elliot’s twist on Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poems is unique, and offers everything the reader could want—mystery, adventure and intrigue,’ said judging panel convenor Pam Jones. The judges also praised the book’s ‘rich imagery’ and ‘compelling storytelling’.

The full list of winning titles is:

Margaret Mahy Book of the Year

  • Snark: Being a True History of the Expedition that Discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock … and its Tragic Aftermath (David Elliot, Otago University Press)

Picture Book Award

  • That’s Not a Hippopotamus! (Juliette MacIver, illus by Sarah Davis, Gecko Press)

Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction

  • My New Zealand Story: Bastion Point (Tania Roxborogh, Scholastic)

Young Adult Fiction

  • The Severed Land (Maurice Gee, Penguin)

Elsie Locke Award for Nonfiction

  • Jack and Charlie: Boys of the Bush (Josh James Marcotte & Jack Marcotte, Puffin)

Russell Clark Award for Illustration

  • David Elliot for Snark: Being a True History of the Expedition that Discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock … and its Tragic Aftermath (Otago University Press)

Te Kura Pounamu Award for books written completely in te reo Māori

  • Te Kaihanga Māpere (Sacha Cotter, illus by Josh Morgan, trans by Kawata Teepa, Huia Publishers)

Best First Book Award

  • The Discombobulation of Summer Rain (Julie Lamb, Submarine).

The winners were announced at a ceremony in Wellington on 14 August. The winners in each category  received NZ$7500 (A$6960), with an additional NZ$7500 awarded for the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year.

For more information about the awards, click here.

 

Category: Awards Junior Local news News