The Treaty of Waitangi by Ross Calman took home the 2025 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year.
A book about the Treaty of Waitangi has been awarded the top prize at the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Judges said The Treaty of Waitangi by Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Kāi Tahu) won The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year because it “distils the complexity” of the Treaty for young readers.
“The Treaty of Waitangi is a miracle of concision without sacrificing complexity," judging convenors Mat Tait and Feana Tu‘akoi said.
“It is written clearly and inclusively without avoiding uncomfortable truths.”
Tait and Tu‘akoi said all the books nominated for the book of the year award were great examples of the “fresh and intelligent” literature written for Aotearoa‘s tamariki and rangatahi.
The Treaty of Waitangi also won the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction.
Gavin Bishop (Tainui, Ngāti Awa), together with translator Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rereahu), won the BookHub Picture Book Award for their book Titiro Look.
The judging convenors described it as deceptively simple, declaring it “a beautifully produced board book that is an absorbing exploration of reo Māori and reo Pākehā”.
Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat, written and illustrated by Li Chen, won the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction.
The judges said they were entranced by this “skilfully crafted work, an all-ages book that is both fun and funny, with humour that hits on multiple levels” and found the illustration and text to be impressive in equal measure.
The Young Adult Fiction Award went to The Paradise Generation by self-published, first-time author Sanna Thompson.
This expertly crafted, “very Wellington” resistance narrative urges readers to think critically about where humanity is headed, the judges said.
“It [is] an extraordinary novel that balances both heart-pounding tension and emotional depth.”
Rehua Wilson (Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa) received the Russell Clark Award for Illustration, for Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro, written by Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa tipua, Ngāti Tūwharetoa anō hoki), which tells the pūrakau of the becoming of Hineraukatauri.
The judges praised Wilson’s illustrations, which they felt embodied the kaupapa with “a breath-taking synaesthetic skill that seems quite magical”.
Hineraukatauri me Te Ara Pūoro also won the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Book Originally Written in Te Reo Māori.
This new award was introduced after the decision to split the Te Kura Pounamu category into two separate prizes, acknowledging the skills of original writing and translation.
“There could not be a more deserving first recipient,” the judges said as they praised the rhythm and poetry of the reo.
The Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for a Translated Work went to Ariā me te Atua o te Kūmara written by Witi Ihimaera (Te Whānau a Kai, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Porou), translated by Hēni Jacob (Ngāti Raukawa) and illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu).
Judges praised Jacob’s excellent translation of the original tale.
“[It] flowed smoothly and provided a platform to spark conversation about the importance of Matariki.”
The NZSA Best First Book Award was awarded to The Raven’s Eye Runaways by Claire Mabey.
Judges said the book stood out as “the work of a writer who wields words with exquisite care and understands the power of great storytelling”.
Each category winner receives $8500, except for the first book winners, who take home $2500.
David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.
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