Veteran author wins ‘children’s favourite’ award

Veteran author Dorothy Butler and illustrator Elizabeth Fuller, with their New Zealand classic picture book My Brown Bear Barney, have won the 2008 Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-loved Book.

The award is given by the Storylines Trust annually in memory of the late children’s author Gaelyn Gordon (1939-1997), to acknowledge a picture book or novel which did not win an award at the time of publication but has become a firm favourite with children and adults.

My Brown Bear Barney was published by Reed Methuen in 1988, followed by two sequels, My Brown Bear Barney at School (1994) and My Brown Bear Barney at the Party (2001).

‘Since the first appearance of that wonderful character Brown Bear Barney in 1988, this book and its sequels have continued to enchant young New Zealanders,’ says Dr Libby Limbrick, Head of Arts, Languages and Literacies at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education, and chairperson of the Storylines Trust.

Dorothy Butler, from Karekare, has been a foremost author and advocate for children’s books for more than 40 years. Among her books of commentary are the internationally acclaimed Babies need Books and Cushla and her Books.

Elizabeth Fuller is well known for her images for Joy Cowley’s international best-seller Mrs Wishy-Washy, along with many other ‘school reader’ titles.

Previous winners of the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award have included Elsie Locke, David Hill, Maurice Gee and Lynley Dodd.

The award will be presented at the Storylines annual Margaret Mahy Day in Auckland on Saturday 29 March 2008.