From beach holidays to colonisation: something for everyone in New Zealand picture book awards
Pat Martin and Pip Desmond review the picture books short-listed for the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. There’s a bedtime story about the beach, a search-and-find mission with a message, a girl who’s afraid of the dark, a rebellious pig and – the winner – a spirited young Māori boy’s musings on his place in the world.
Pip Desmond and Pat Martin are writers and editors who run communications company 2Write. They have been reading books to their three children and eight grandchildren for four decades.
Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai bounds through life in his rainbow t-shirt with his one-eyed toy dog Fred, musing on big subjects like family, authority, phones, death, race. An exuberant seven-year-old who likes to be called by his full name, he places himself at the centre of the universe where time is fluid, riddles are normal and Māori mythology weaves through the everyday.
This curious, high-spirited boy is surrounded by a large cast of characters, both living and dead. He’s ‘not afraid of anything’ and asserts his right to protest: about his position in the family, rules, the behaviour of atua, and above all, the injustice of colonisation. If his candid and sometimes violent imaginings (taken from comments made by author Michaela Keeble’s son at the same age) occasionally create discomfort, as they did for us, this is the territory the book is brave enough to inhabit.
Tokerau Teokotai Brown’s strong illustrations evoke both Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai’s zest for life and his outrage. A memorable double-spread shows lines of riot police, the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, a ‘Land Back’ banner, money flying out of a suitcase and people being squeezed in the tentacles of a giant purple taniwha.
At a get-together of our Pakeha family of all ages, this book provoked lively discussion. It’s a worthy winner in the 2024 New Zealand picture book awards, an important addition to children’s literature that would benefit from adult guidance.
Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai
By Michaela Keeble (UK, Austrian and German descent) with her son Kerehi Grace (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Porou)
Illustrated by Tokerau Brown
Published by Gecko Press 2023
In Sacha Cotter’s Dazzlehands, Farmer wants Pig to oink like a good pig but Pig is into self-expression. So unfolds a battle of wills in which exasperated Farmer strives to educate Pig who, to his credit, does his own research on how pigs should behave.
The shocking pink cover and sparkly silver title herald a fun-loving book. Josh Morgan’s stylised illustrations switch back and forth from the farmyard to dancing, grooving and general joie de vivre. It would make a great video.
This book is made to be read aloud, if not acted out, and sweeps along with the playful use of language and zany text fonts. Children will enjoy Pig’s rebellious antics while adults will smile at in-jokes such as Pig discovering his scientific name.
By the end, Farmer and the other animals have all embraced Dazzlehands. But what about Pig?
Dazzlehands
By Sacha Cotter
Illustrated by Josh Morgan
Published by Huia Publishers 2023
Lucy and the Dark, by Melinda Szymanik, explores an unexpected friendship. Lucy is scared of the dark and leaves her bedside lamp on. One night the lamp goes out and Lucy comes face to face with her nemesis. This Dark is a living creature, ‘sad and ordinary’, with crescent-moon eyes, a sweet smile and sharp teeth. Illustrator Vasanti Unka brings its protective character beautifully to life.
Their friendship established, the pair set off on an adventure to dark places Lucy used to fear. But they are missed and are eventually persuaded to return. It’s an engaging story to read out loud with room for spooky vocal play in lines such as, ‘“Hello,” said an empty cave of a voice.’
Lucy and the Dark has been published for an international audience and its themes are universal. Who’s not afraid of the dark, even just a tiny bit? And who’s not comforted to know that everyone, even the Dark, has a place where they belong?
Lucy and the Dark
By Melinda Szymanik
Illustrated by Vasanti Unka
Published by Puffin (Penguin Random House New Zealand) 2023
In Hatch and Match, hens of all colours and patterns go looking for their matching eggs at a farmers’ market complete with bouncy castle and a hoe-down. The busy, vibrant illustrations are a perfect complement to the text, creating a joyful world of chickens, animals, people and nature – apart from the rat. Given the seamless character of words and pictures, it’s no surprise that Ruth Paul is both writer and illustrator.
Teachers will enjoy reading the book aloud for the rhyme, rhythm and alliteration, such as ‘Look-look here and look-look there’ to mimic the clucking of hens. Children will want to pore over the pictures to locate the multi-coloured eggs hidden in surprising places.
What starts as a search-and-find mission morphs into a satisfying message on the final page that doesn’t feel preachy and gives Hatch and Match an extra dimension.
Hatch and Match
Text and illustrations by Ruth Paul
Published by Walker Books Australia Pty Ltd 2024
At the Bach is a simple poem about the end to a classic Kiwi day by the sea, written by esteemed children’s author Joy Cowley. The book has a quintessential New Zealand feel, starting with the word ‘bach’ in the title. (Overseas it’s published as Good Beach, Good Night, in keeping with a bedtime story.)
Five round-faced children, ranging from toddler to pre-teen, with ‘sunburned skin and sandy feet’, have a last paddle then put on their jammies, hide their shell collection and sleep two to a bed.
Jean Tapper’s watercolour wash illustrations capture the soft evening haze and Kiwi setting: a bay with a rocky headland, swooping seagulls, marram grass, remnants of an old fence. No other houses or neighbours in sight.
At the Bach has the nostalgic feel of a bygone era where children were left to fossick and play and roam alone. Adults appear only in the pictures: Dad doing the dishes, Mum with her feet up, Gran at the kitchen table with a cuppa and an unfinished jigsaw.
The gentle rhymes and rhythm of the text mirror the lapping of water on the shore. This a satisfying read-aloud book that will appeal to younger children lucky enough to enjoy a family beach holiday and those who’d love to.
At the Bach
By Joy Cowley
Illustrated by Jean Tapper
Published by Gecko Press 2023.