The New Zealand Post Book awards are a real celebration of Kiwi Kids’ books. If you haven’t checked out the finalists, you can see them here. Are there any that your children loved?
We’ve got copies of four of the finalists to give away…
Yes by Deborah Burnside (Young Adult Fiction)
Marty Morgan is considered a loser; weird, different, the little kid who really thought he was going to be murdered when it was his turn to go to the ′murder house′. Definitely B-crowd material … or, truth be told, D-crowd. Because although he attends a mainstream school, he′s not mainstream: he has low-level autism. Puzzled by others′ emotions, words and facial expressions, he has blended into the background, but now he decides it′s time to take control of his destiny. It′s time for him to ′man up′, as his father would say. So when Luke Costigan, his one true friend – who is physically ′disabled′ – wants to take part in the Young Enterprise Scheme, in spite of his misgivings, and past experience of Luke′s grand plans, Marty (or M&M) to his friends, says YES. And that is just the beginning …
You can read our Kiwi Families review of Yes here.
The Travelling Restaurant by Barbara Else (Junior Fiction)
Jasper, an obviously extraordinary boy, has to escape to sea in the travelling restaurant where he encounters pirates and all sorts of danger in order to rescue his little sister and in fact everyone from a very nasty lady who wants to be Queen. Seriously I’d tell you more, but I don’t want to ruin a moment of fun by spoiling any of the surprises.
Read Kiri Sim’s (aged 8) review of The Travelling Restaurant here.
Nice Day for a War by by Matt Elliott and illustrated by Chris Slane (Non Fiction)
Nice Day for a War is a touching and sometimes humorous account of life in the Flanders trenches during World War I, as told through the diaries of Cyril Elliott. As an 18-year-old New Zealand boy, Cyril enlisted in the New Zealand Army. During his time of service in France, Cyril kept a detailed account of his experiences through a series of diaries, and he lovingly collected and saved the postcards and letters received from his family back home.
Waiting for Late by Tina Matthews (Picture Book)
Even though Nancy is big, one day she feels small. She asks her mum, brother, cousin, aunt and grandfather to play with her. They’re all busy and inevitably reply, Later. So Nancy climbs a tree in her backyard to wait for later, and imagines playing the games her family doesn’t have time for. When later arrives, it’s her family who wonder where Nancy’s got to.
To win this prize package, answer the question below.
