Children's Book of the Year

Now called the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year,^[19] this award is presented to a book "which, in the opinion of the judges, achieves outstanding excellence in all general judging criteria".^[9] As of 2013^[update], winners receive $7,500 (in addition to the $7,500 prize for winning in their category).^[9] Currently called the New Zealand Post Children's Book of the Year award, this award was originally known as the New Zealand Children's Book of the Year Award, presented from 1982 to 1988.^[9][20] When the New Zealand Government Publishing Awards finished in 1988, the award ceased to exist until 1995, when the AIM Children's Book Awards established the AIM Book of the Year.^[4][20]

Winners of the Fiction category in 1990 to 1992, when there was no Book of the Year award and the only additional category was Picture Book (and Best First Book in 1992), have been considered Book of the Year winners.^{[8][10][20][21]}

Children's Choice

In 2015 for the first time, children chose the finalist list for the Children's Choice awards. With 6,000 students putting their votes in for all 149 of the titles submitted for the awards, the finalists were announced on 9 June. This began the second stage of voting, which saw just under 16,000 students post their votes for the Children's Choice winners.

Until 2014, the Children's Choice award was chosen from the finalists in all categories below by a public vote open to school aged children, and is considered one of the highest accolades in the awards.^[47][35][48] As of 2013^[update] winners of the Children's Choice award receive a prize of $2,000.^[9]

The Children's Choice award was created at the first New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards in 1997, and has been presented every year since.^[4][49] Despite being open to finalists from all categories, as of 2013^[update] all winners have been from the Picture Book category.^[49][50] From 2010 the winners of each category have also been announced.^[49]

Best First Book

The Best First Book award is open to entrants in any of the categories below who are first‐time authors. As of 2012^[update], winners in of the Best First Book award receive a prize of $2,000.^[35]

The Best First Book category was first included in the AIM Children's Book Awards in 1992, but was not awarded 1994–5.^[10] Since then, the award has been presented every year except 2001.^[10][26][57]

Picture Book

The Picture Book category is for titles in which the illustrations "carry the impact of the story" along with the text.^[9] These can be titles for children or young adults, but illustrations have to make up at least half of the content, and these illustrations must be original, not compiled from other sources.^[9] As of 2012^[update], winners receive a prize of $7,500, split evenly between the author and the illustrator.^[9][35]

"Picture Book" is the only category to be included in every awards ceremony, and was first presented in 1982 as "Picture Book of the Year" in the New Zealand Government Publishing Awards.^[8] There were no awards ceremonies in 1989, but the category was resurrected in the first AIM Children's Book Awards in 1990 as "Picture Book", and has retained the name to this day.^[4][8][35]

Non-fiction

The Non-fiction category is for titles in "which present well-authenticated data, with consideration given to imaginative presentation, interpretation and style".^[9] Titles for children or young adults can be included in this category, but not textbooks, resource kits, poetry, folklore, or retellings of myths and legends.^[9] As of 2012^[update], winners in the Non-fiction category receive a prize of $7,500.^[9][35]

The Non Fiction category was added in 1986 to the New Zealand Government Publishing Awards, but removed again in 1987.^[3] The category was not resurrected until 1993, as part of the AIM Children's Book Awards.^[3] From 2008, the category's name has been hyphenated.^[30][31][35]

In 2016, when the awards merged with the LIANZA Awards, this category was merged with the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction and renamed the Elsie Locke Non-Fiction Award.^[73][74]

Fiction

The Fiction category is for works of creative writing, in which the text constitutes the "heart of the book".^[9] The category was added with the creation of the AIM Children's Book Awards in 1990, but was split into Junior Fiction and Senior Fiction in 1993.^[7] The name of the Senior Fiction category was later to change to Young Adult Fiction in 2004.^[11][12]

As of 2012^[update], winners in either Fiction category receive a prize of $7,500.^[9][35]

Winners of the Fiction category in 1990 to 1992, when there was no Book of the Year award and the only additional category was Picture Book (and Best First Book in 1992), have been considered Book of the Year winners.^{[8][10][20][21]}

Illustration

The illustration award was added in 2016, when the Awards merged with the LIANZA Awards.^[73] It is named the Russell Clark award in honour of the New Zealand illustrator of that name.^[79]

Te reo Māori

This award is currently called the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award and is awarded to a book written entirely in (or translated entirely into) te reo Māori (the Māori language).^[80] It was introduced in 2016 when the Awards merged with the LIANZA Awards, and is judged separately by Te Rōpū Whakahau.^[73][81]