CHILDREN'S CHOICE - NZ POST BOOK AWARDS

Thousands of kids are voting now for their favourite New Zealand
children's book!

School-age kids from schools and communities around the country are
voting now for their favourite New Zealand children's book in the
celebrated Children's Choice Award organised in conjunction with the New
Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults. Tens of thousands
of voting cards have been distributed to schools, libraries, bookshops
and selected PostShops nationwide and the votes are beginning to come
in.

Children are encouraged to read and make their selection from the twenty
finalist books in this year's awards. They will be weighing up some of
this country's best contemporary writers along with some new-comers to
the scene of children's book writing. Will last year's winners of the
Children's Choice Award, writer Jennifer Beck and illustrator Lindy
Fisher - finalists again this year with their picture book, A Present
from the Past - take the votes again? Or will the votes go to debut
writer, Sharon Holt for her book, It's True! You Can Make Your Own
Jokes? Whoever the winner might be, we won't know until after the
voting closes at 5pm on Tuesday 1 May 2007. The full list of finalists
is available online at www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz and voting is also
available online at the same website.

The Children's Choice Award was introduced in 1997 as a way of giving
school-aged children nationwide the opportunity to have a say in this
country's most prestigious children's book awards. Over the eleven
years since its inception, the number of votes placed has grown to more
than 30,000. Past winners have included Gaelyn Gordon, Bob Kerr and
much-loved writer and illustrator, Lynley Dodd. This award is now
considered by children's authors to be one of the highest accolades they
can receive in New Zealand for their writing.

The winner of the Children's Choice Award will be announced at the New
Zealand Post Book Awards ceremony at Parliament on Wednesday 16 May
2007. They will receive $1000, but they're not the only one to benefit.
Once the votes are tallied, one voting card or online vote is randomly
pulled 'from the hat'. The child whose name appears on this vote will
instantly win $1000 worth of Booksellers Tokens for their school
library.

While the votes are being counted many of the New Zealand Post Book
Award finalists take to the road from Monday 7 May, participating in a
nationwide festival of children's books and literature. They will be
visiting schools and libraries around the country in the lead up to the
awards ceremony on Wednesday 16 May. A full schedule of events will be
available on www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz from mid April.

New Zealand Post has been a steadfast sponsor of the New Zealand Post
Book Awards for Children and Young Adults since 1997. Its partnership
has seen the awards flourish, growing from strength to strength over the
last decade. New Zealand Post's support of these awards reflects their
deep commitment to promoting literacy and literature throughout the
country. Working closely with Booksellers New Zealand, New Zealand Post
and other dedicated segments of the community actively encourage New
Zealand children to read and enjoy books. For those with limited access
to new works, New Zealand Post also purchases and distributes books by
the New Zealand Post Book Awards finalists by supporting the Books in
Homes programme each year.

The New Zealand Post Book Awards are also supported by Creative New
Zealand and Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd and are administered by Booksellers New
Zealand.