The 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have given their top award to a book that helps young readers understand the complexities of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Author Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Kāi Tahu) has won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, as well as the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction, for his book, The Treaty of Waitangi.
The judging convenors, Mat Tait and Feana Tu‘akoi, called the book a “miracle of concision without sacrificing complexity”.
“It is written clearly and inclusively without avoiding uncomfortable truths.
“After extensive discussion with both the bilingual and te reo Māori judging panels, we agreed unanimously on one book that will not only have significant impact on young readers, but is also particularly important for our time.”
Overall, Calman won $17,000 from the two awards given on Wednesday night at Wellington’s Pipitea Marae.
But he wasn’t the only winner, as six other books were also recognised and rewarded for their contributions to rangatahi literature.
Gavin Bishop (Tainui, Ngāti Awa), alongside translator Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu), won the BookHub Picture Book Award for their book Titiro.
Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro took out the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Originally Written in Te Reo Māori, as well as the Russell Clark Award for Illustration. The book was written by Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki) and illustrated by Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa).
The Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Translated into Te Reo Māori went to Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara, written by Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Ngāti Porou), translated by Hēni Jacob (Ngāti Raukawa), and illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu).
Li Chen’s graphic novel Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat won the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction.
First-time author Sanna Thompson received the Young Adult Fiction Award for her book The Paradise Generation.
The Raven’s Eye Runaways by Claire Mabey was awarded the NZSA Best First Book Award.
Each category was worth $8,500, except for the Best First Book Award, which was worth $2,500.
