Champion book quite a mouthful

A book with quite possibly one of the longest titles in children’s publishing is the big winner at this year’s New Zealand Children and Young Adults Book awards.

Snark: Being a true history of the expedition that discovered the Snark and the Jabberwock . . . and its tragic aftermath, by Otago author David Elliot, won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Russell Clark award for illustration.

Judges said the rich imagery and compelling storytelling draws readers into a tale of Lewis Carroll’s poetry unlike ever before.

Judging panel convener Pam Jones said while Elliot’s draughtsmanship was outstanding, the way he pulled all elements of the story together really won the judges over.

“David Elliot’s twist on Lewis Carroll’s nonsense poems is unique and offers everything the reader could want: mystery, adventure and intrigue.”

It was also a big night for veteran author Maurice Gee, whose youngadult novella, The Severed Land, won the Copyright Licensing NZ Award for Young Adult Fiction. Gee released it this year after an eight-year writing break.

Judges said they knew they were in good hands as Gee’s elegant writing carried them along on an epic and archetypal adventure of warring families, colonialism, mysterious strangers and making allies out of enemies. Not a word was wasted, they said.