Shame on you...
So - a quick search will show that Newstalkzb has a news item about this. And lots of the newspapers on Stuff. So does TV3. There's even a link on the NY Daily News.
But, no matter how I search... I can't find anything on the NZHerald or TVNZ sites.
Maybe I just imagined that piece on the news last night...
Anyway - here's the official site for the complete list of winners and other stuff. And a post for work I wrote about the ceremony.
Showing posts with label book awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book awards. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Hob nobbing...
I got to go the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards ceremony! Anyhoo - the winners will be officially announced at 9am Thursday 20th here...
I'm not going to say anything - but you could look at the poster - and the cool loot we got too!
Yay for getting to meet & hug facebook friends in real life - congrats Tania for being a finalist.
And yay double triple yays Kyle!!!
Thursday, 21 May 2009
What makes a good book... Or Ranty McRanty #7
Who knows!
Email lists I'm on have been full of discussion over the New Zealand Post Book Awards winners. I understand, agree, and sympathise with many of the comments.
The 10 PM question - yes, it's lovely - but seems more an adult book - or one of those dreaded cross-over thingies. I say it's lovely, but I couldn't remember whehter I'd read it or not, until I was reading the third chapter... For this reason, Storylines didn't include Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter (the Esther Glen winner) in their Notable Books List.
Old Drumble - again, a great book, but of little appeal to current children. A nostalgic visit to childhood - one with little relevance to today's 'cotton wool' generation.
Roadworks - this hasn't gone down that well amongst primary school students - the kids most of the email list members work with - but I work with preschoolers - and this rocks!!! Perfect storytime book. [by the way - why didn't we have Big Burly Blokes reading books!
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig - reads well aloud.
The Were-Nana - creepy and fun.
Violence 101 - a workmate hates this book - sees it as a how-to manual on how to be violent. I like its grittiness and raw honesty. Teens who might 'need' such a manual, aren't always the teens who read.
What would be my books of the year? Based on the Storylines Notable Books List:
Picture book: Roadworks, although I am very tempted by The Apple. Both are true picture books - that is, where image and text work perfectly together to make a whole.
Junior fiction: Freaky Fish - how wonderful to get two books (the other being Big fish, little fish) for the younger age group that work really well, and stand up against books for older readers! I picked this one because it is part of a series for younger readers, but doesn't read like a 'reader' - it has character, plot, pace, development - and it doesn't have a pat ending.
Young adult fiction: The tomorrow code - science wonderfully integrated into story - an unashamedly New Zealand book that has sold to the US, while keeping its NZ identity. Bravo Brian.
Non-fiction: Atoms, dinosaurs and DNA - educational, interesting, and readable. What all non-fiction should be. Although, I have a fondness for Learn to skateboard with Luka - like fiction, it is rare to find good non-fiction aimed at younger children.
I remember having a discussion a couple of years ago over Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Colleagues whose opinions I respect had great issue with putting this book on the Storylines Notable Books list. They couldn't see an audience for it - in that it is a teen book, but what teenagers would be interested in reading it?
I, however, argued that it didn't necessarily make it unsuitable for inclusion. For all its faults (too much scientific content, not always seamlessly incorporated into the story, for example) it is a truly notable books - it has taken New Zealand teen literature a step further. It has amazing world-building. It does what good science fiction is supposed to do: hold a mirror to our current society and makes you seriously think about where we are at, and where we are heading.
I don't see the point of sitting at meetings discussing books when whether a book is 'notable' or not comes down to 'I didn't like it' or 'I loved it'. Yeah, sure, personal preferences/prejudices can - and do - influence your opinion, but... this isn't a decision about whether you buy/keep the book. Personal opinion, unsupported by facts, should NOT be how books are judged, in a formal context. It should be 'I don't think that the pictures and story work together' or 'that character development is unconvincing' or 'their action doesn't match the personality so far portrayed in the story'.
When on a judging panel personal preferences shouldn't outweigh quality. Someone on a notables panel with me didn't bother reading Single Fin by Aaron Topp - because they didn't like/get surfing. WTF?!? I don't either - but the book ISN'T all about surfing! Surfing is the acitivity that moulds the book, the characters, and acts as support. What the book IS is about Fin's grief, his community, and love - love of activity, love of friends, love of nature. It is staggering for a first novel.
We often wonder whether we're judging a book on its own merits - or on the backlist of the author. It IS hard, excluding a much-loved author from the notables list, but sometimes it IS necessary. Honestly, I love Margaret Mahy - but The Magician of Hoad is not one of Margaret's better works but, not only that, it just isn't a good fantasy novel.
Here endeth the rant...
Email lists I'm on have been full of discussion over the New Zealand Post Book Awards winners. I understand, agree, and sympathise with many of the comments.
The 10 PM question - yes, it's lovely - but seems more an adult book - or one of those dreaded cross-over thingies. I say it's lovely, but I couldn't remember whehter I'd read it or not, until I was reading the third chapter... For this reason, Storylines didn't include Elizabeth Knox's Dreamhunter (the Esther Glen winner) in their Notable Books List.
Old Drumble - again, a great book, but of little appeal to current children. A nostalgic visit to childhood - one with little relevance to today's 'cotton wool' generation.
Roadworks - this hasn't gone down that well amongst primary school students - the kids most of the email list members work with - but I work with preschoolers - and this rocks!!! Perfect storytime book. [by the way - why didn't we have Big Burly Blokes reading books!
Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig - reads well aloud.
The Were-Nana - creepy and fun.
Violence 101 - a workmate hates this book - sees it as a how-to manual on how to be violent. I like its grittiness and raw honesty. Teens who might 'need' such a manual, aren't always the teens who read.
What would be my books of the year? Based on the Storylines Notable Books List:
Picture book: Roadworks, although I am very tempted by The Apple. Both are true picture books - that is, where image and text work perfectly together to make a whole.
Junior fiction: Freaky Fish - how wonderful to get two books (the other being Big fish, little fish) for the younger age group that work really well, and stand up against books for older readers! I picked this one because it is part of a series for younger readers, but doesn't read like a 'reader' - it has character, plot, pace, development - and it doesn't have a pat ending.
Young adult fiction: The tomorrow code - science wonderfully integrated into story - an unashamedly New Zealand book that has sold to the US, while keeping its NZ identity. Bravo Brian.
Non-fiction: Atoms, dinosaurs and DNA - educational, interesting, and readable. What all non-fiction should be. Although, I have a fondness for Learn to skateboard with Luka - like fiction, it is rare to find good non-fiction aimed at younger children.
I remember having a discussion a couple of years ago over Genesis by Bernard Beckett. Colleagues whose opinions I respect had great issue with putting this book on the Storylines Notable Books list. They couldn't see an audience for it - in that it is a teen book, but what teenagers would be interested in reading it?
I, however, argued that it didn't necessarily make it unsuitable for inclusion. For all its faults (too much scientific content, not always seamlessly incorporated into the story, for example) it is a truly notable books - it has taken New Zealand teen literature a step further. It has amazing world-building. It does what good science fiction is supposed to do: hold a mirror to our current society and makes you seriously think about where we are at, and where we are heading.
I don't see the point of sitting at meetings discussing books when whether a book is 'notable' or not comes down to 'I didn't like it' or 'I loved it'. Yeah, sure, personal preferences/prejudices can - and do - influence your opinion, but... this isn't a decision about whether you buy/keep the book. Personal opinion, unsupported by facts, should NOT be how books are judged, in a formal context. It should be 'I don't think that the pictures and story work together' or 'that character development is unconvincing' or 'their action doesn't match the personality so far portrayed in the story'.
When on a judging panel personal preferences shouldn't outweigh quality. Someone on a notables panel with me didn't bother reading Single Fin by Aaron Topp - because they didn't like/get surfing. WTF?!? I don't either - but the book ISN'T all about surfing! Surfing is the acitivity that moulds the book, the characters, and acts as support. What the book IS is about Fin's grief, his community, and love - love of activity, love of friends, love of nature. It is staggering for a first novel.
We often wonder whether we're judging a book on its own merits - or on the backlist of the author. It IS hard, excluding a much-loved author from the notables list, but sometimes it IS necessary. Honestly, I love Margaret Mahy - but The Magician of Hoad is not one of Margaret's better works but, not only that, it just isn't a good fantasy novel.
Here endeth the rant...
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Book review time
It's been a while since I reviewed a book on here - so...The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
What a joy! I read it in one gulp because I just needed to find out what would happen - would Juliet end up with Mark. What about Dawsey? He was so wonderful - something had to happen! Would Elizabeth come home?
As you read through you know what you WANT to happen - and those wants could contradict each other.
I love novels in different formats and this one is epistolary (ie in letters, and notes, and telegrams in this case).
And then there's the experiences of the Guernsey Islanders during German occupation - and the stories of the German soldiers. Yes, a lot of bad - but those glimpses of humans behind the badge are well-drawn.
And the wonders, joys, and friendships that come out of reading...
This is now on my wish list - fancy that! An adult novel!!!
I'm re-reading it shortly...
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Ranty McRanty #4 part 2 (another long one)
or... further confessions of a reader of 'crap'.
My history of reading popular, 'crap' fiction started early. Dr Seuss' Green eggs and ham, for example (now a classic and exemplar of beginner readers). Got sucked in to the Blyton thing - Famous Five (couldn't stand the Secret Seven) and Six cousins of Mistletoe Farm. Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. Trixie Belden (still hunting the elusive last book in the series - have up to #38. Used to buy one a week with our groceries, if I'd been good $1.99 at Three Guys). Couldn't stand Nancy Drew. Asterix (not Tintin).
Then secondary school... in came the romance novel. Barbara Cartland and Georgette Heyer, courtesy of my mum. Still re-read Georgette. Harlequin romances (big sister's collection) - not Mills & Boons (too tame). The Sweet Valley books started coming in around this time - but I'd already moved on to some other hefty tomes. Satanic rituals? Barbara Cartland's occasional dabble with the occult had nothing on the Dennis Wheatley novels I borrowed from mum's shelves.
Kids books I still have - The trolley car family by Clymer. The Little White Horse by Goudge (mentioned in my previous entry). This even won the Carnegie Medal. Boston's Green Knowe books - still have a boxed set.
On the subject of medals/awards... I'm with Robin McKinley, who has won a few and whose books I treasure and re-read... extracted from an online essay
Do you remember Newbery books from your childhood?
In fifth grade well-intentioned librarians tried to force me to read Newbery Medal books because they felt I had reread The Black Stallion quite often enough and my horizons needed broadening. My utter loathing of anything with a sticker on the cover dates from then. I grew up knowing that stickers on the cover meant Grown Ups Think This Book Is Good For You But It Will Bore You To Death. I still can't recall Hitty: Her First Hundred Years without blanching.
What was your response to learning you had won?
And therefore, my first reaction to being told that I'd won the Newbery was, Oh, no! No child in his or her right mind will ever pick up Hero again! (Or, for that matter, Sword, which was an honor book and so had a sticker too.) I have been told, severely, that the Newbery has changed since I was in fifth grade. I have read a lot of more recent Newbery winners and honor books and it's true, they have changed, but I'm sorry, I still approach anything with a sticker on the cover with caution.
I like reading children's and teens' books - and 'formulaic' genre fiction like romance and fantasy - because the authors aren't so tied up with showing off their writerly skills. A child review once said/wrote in a review for the library - enough will all the adjectives, just get on with the story. Yep, I agree. I read description, description, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, YAY action! Story! Finally! No - more description.
It's all in how it's handled. Robin McKinley can go off on tangents - but they're not writely, showing off tangents - they're more stream-of-consciousness, written from the first person and giving a real insight into the inner workings of the character's mind.
My history of reading popular, 'crap' fiction started early. Dr Seuss' Green eggs and ham, for example (now a classic and exemplar of beginner readers). Got sucked in to the Blyton thing - Famous Five (couldn't stand the Secret Seven) and Six cousins of Mistletoe Farm. Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. Trixie Belden (still hunting the elusive last book in the series - have up to #38. Used to buy one a week with our groceries, if I'd been good $1.99 at Three Guys). Couldn't stand Nancy Drew. Asterix (not Tintin).
Then secondary school... in came the romance novel. Barbara Cartland and Georgette Heyer, courtesy of my mum. Still re-read Georgette. Harlequin romances (big sister's collection) - not Mills & Boons (too tame). The Sweet Valley books started coming in around this time - but I'd already moved on to some other hefty tomes. Satanic rituals? Barbara Cartland's occasional dabble with the occult had nothing on the Dennis Wheatley novels I borrowed from mum's shelves.
Kids books I still have - The trolley car family by Clymer. The Little White Horse by Goudge (mentioned in my previous entry). This even won the Carnegie Medal. Boston's Green Knowe books - still have a boxed set.
On the subject of medals/awards... I'm with Robin McKinley, who has won a few and whose books I treasure and re-read... extracted from an online essay
Do you remember Newbery books from your childhood?
In fifth grade well-intentioned librarians tried to force me to read Newbery Medal books because they felt I had reread The Black Stallion quite often enough and my horizons needed broadening. My utter loathing of anything with a sticker on the cover dates from then. I grew up knowing that stickers on the cover meant Grown Ups Think This Book Is Good For You But It Will Bore You To Death. I still can't recall Hitty: Her First Hundred Years without blanching.
What was your response to learning you had won?
And therefore, my first reaction to being told that I'd won the Newbery was, Oh, no! No child in his or her right mind will ever pick up Hero again! (Or, for that matter, Sword, which was an honor book and so had a sticker too.) I have been told, severely, that the Newbery has changed since I was in fifth grade. I have read a lot of more recent Newbery winners and honor books and it's true, they have changed, but I'm sorry, I still approach anything with a sticker on the cover with caution.
I like reading children's and teens' books - and 'formulaic' genre fiction like romance and fantasy - because the authors aren't so tied up with showing off their writerly skills. A child review once said/wrote in a review for the library - enough will all the adjectives, just get on with the story. Yep, I agree. I read description, description, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, YAY action! Story! Finally! No - more description.
It's all in how it's handled. Robin McKinley can go off on tangents - but they're not writely, showing off tangents - they're more stream-of-consciousness, written from the first person and giving a real insight into the inner workings of the character's mind.
Thursday, 13 September 2007
LIANZA Children's Book Awards
The LIANZA Children's Book Award winners were announced on Tuesday.
The Esther Glenn Award winner, Genesis by Bernard Beckett is one of those polarising books. Some find the science content too much and they skim through the book. Othersare totally absorbed. I have a foot in both camps - yep, I skimmed the science, but the concepts are fascinating. The survival of society after a pandemic. Social and genetic engineering. The rise of the machine.
The Russell Clark winner, The Three Fishing Brothers Gruff by Ben Galbraith also contains a message. The Gruff brothers are taking too much fish in their trawling operation off Poverty Bay, which upsets Minke Whale, the Guardian of the Ocean. The illustrations are great, using collaged elements and computer manipulation. The production is outstanding.
The Elsie Locke Award went to Leon Davidson's Red Haze: Australians and New Zealanders in Vietnam. It's a balanced look at the Vietnam conflict, including lots of first person accounts.
The Esther Glenn Award winner, Genesis by Bernard Beckett is one of those polarising books. Some find the science content too much and they skim through the book. Othersare totally absorbed. I have a foot in both camps - yep, I skimmed the science, but the concepts are fascinating. The survival of society after a pandemic. Social and genetic engineering. The rise of the machine.
The Russell Clark winner, The Three Fishing Brothers Gruff by Ben Galbraith also contains a message. The Gruff brothers are taking too much fish in their trawling operation off Poverty Bay, which upsets Minke Whale, the Guardian of the Ocean. The illustrations are great, using collaged elements and computer manipulation. The production is outstanding.
The Elsie Locke Award went to Leon Davidson's Red Haze: Australians and New Zealanders in Vietnam. It's a balanced look at the Vietnam conflict, including lots of first person accounts.
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