Be the Book, ‘curious’ contest

In a week of Waikato residents receiving medals, Taliah and Shania Palmer claimed the silver in Be the Book’s annual competition.

The sisters from Te Awamutu were named runner-up in the high school category with their creative image.

Come to be known as ‘‘bookface’’, Be the Book challenges readers to strategically line up their face or a body part alongside a book cover.

The competition was run as part of the Cambridge Autumn Festival and the idea is to blend the body and book two together seamlessly,

The sisters’ adaptation of the challenge saw Taliah’s face meld with the cover of a book titled The Way I See It, by Nicole Dryburgh.

For Taliah and Shania, the biggest hurdle was lighting and costuming.

‘‘It took so many goes to get it to match up,’’ they said.

The girls frequent the Te Awamutu Library regularly and the book that earned them the silver medal wasn’t even their first choice.

Waipa District Libraries outreach librarian Hannah May said there were roughly 27 entries this year.

‘‘It’s a curious event. We would like to see it grow more,’’ she said.

‘‘Bookface is all over the internet.

‘‘It’s in the librarians’ pop culture sphere.’’

May said the challenge takes a bit of creativity and urges competitors to think outside the box.

Zack Keighley - Winner of the Primary category

Kathryn Cowell - Winner of the Intermediate category

The Langmans - Winner of the High School category

Wilhelmina Murphy - Winner of the Adult category

Barbara Ann Olsen prize - Special