Storylines: Children’s Literature Foundation of New Zealand Notable New Zealand Books
The list of Notable Books was established in 1999 to reflect the wide-ranging achievements of New Zealand authors and illustrators. It appears in February each year. The CLFNZ Notable Books list allows for the inclusion of picture books with offshore illustrators as well as anthologies.
2012
Picture books
Nana’s colours Pamela Allen- Whetu: the little blue duck Jennifer Beck; illustrated by Renee Haggo
- Bruiser Gavin Bishop
- Out of bed, Fred! Lucy Davey; illustrated by Harriet Baileyk
- Phoebe and the night creatures Jenny Hessell; illustrated by Donovan Bixley
- Tom & the dragon Juliette MacIver; illustrated by Scott Tulloch
- Hester & Lester Kyle Mewburn; illustrated by Harriet Bailey
- Stomp! A dinosaur follow-the-leader story Ruth Paul
- Rāhui Chris Szekely; illustrated by Malcolm Ross
- Lest we forget Feana Tu’akoi; illustrated by Elspeth Alix Batt
Junior fiction
Super Finn Leonie Agnew- Just Jack Adele Broadbent
- The travelling restaurant Barbara Else
- At the lake Jill Harris
- The Peco incident Des Hunt
- The flytrap snaps Johanna Knox; illustrated by Sabrina Malcolm
- Nest of lies Heather McQuillan
- The Loblolly Boy and the Sorcerer James Norcliffe
Special mentions
Just one more: stories by Joy Cowley, illustrated by Gavin Bishop. Although ineligible as much of the material has been published previously, the Storylines Notable Books Judging Panel considers this collection worthy of highlighting. The Judging Panel also made special mention of the Nitty Gritty series, published by Pearson Education, as a consistently good series for this age group.
Senior (young adult) fiction
Dirt bomb Fleur Beale- YES Deborah Burnside
- The bridge Jane Higgins
- Finder’s shore Anna Mackenzie
- Sacrifice Joanna Orwin
- Into the wilderness Mandy Hager
- Ebony Hill Anna Mackenzie
- Shaolin burning Ant Sang
Non-fiction
- When gulls fly high Peter Bland; illustrated by Joanna Bland
- Our children Aotearoa: ō tātou tamariki Sue Copsey
- Nice day for a war: adventures of a Kiwi Soldier in World War I Matt Elliott; illustrated by Chris Slane
- Call of the kōkako Maria Gill; illustrated by Heather Arnold
- New Zealand Hall of Fame: 50 remarkable Kiwis Maria Gill; illustrated by Bruce Potter
- Yates young gardener: get your hands dirty Janice Marriott
- Digging up the past: archaeology for the young & curious David Veart
- The taniwha of Wellington Harbour Moira Wairama; illustrated by Bruce Potter
- Party food for girls Alessandra Zecchini and Arantxa Zecchini-Dowling; photographs by Shaun Cato-Symonds
- I spy NZ art: New Zealand art from the collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery