2015 LIANZA Children and Young Adult Book Awards Winners

The award ceremony for the 2015 LIANZA Children and Young Adult Book Awards was held at the National Library in Wellington on Monday 15 June. The LIANZA Children and Young Adult Book Awards are awarded annually by LIANZA, the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, for outstanding books for children and young people.

Congratulations to all the finalists and the winners!  Here are the winners:

• Russell Clark Illustration Award Winner: Mrs Mo’s Monster by Paul Beavis – Gecko Press
• Elsie Locke Nonfiction Winner: Māori Art for Kids by Julie Noanoa and Norm Heke – Potton and Burton Publishing
• Te Kura Pounamu Winner: Kimihia by Te Mihinga Komene and Scott Pearson – Huia Publishers
• Librarians’ Choice Award Winner: I am Rebecca by Fleur Beale – Penguin Random House
• LIANZA Young Adult Fiction Winner: Night Vision by Ella West – Allen and Unwin
• Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award Winner: Conrad Cooper’s Last Stand by Leonie Agnew – Penguin

Grab a copy of these award-winning books at your library. To find out more about the LIANZA Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Awards check out our page on the awards.

Waterloo – a decisive battle

The 18th of June this year is the bicentenary of the legendary Battle of Waterloo. This was the battle that gave us hundreds of places named after the Duke of Wellington, a London train station, a dramatic Sharpe story and and a classic Eurovision winner. But what was it all about?

The Napoleonic Wars, which had begun in the aftermath of the French Revolutionary Wars, raged across Europe for well over a decade. Napoleon had emerged as a charismatic leader of the French, being crowned Emperor in 1804, and wanted to dominate Europe. Although defeated by Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 it wasn’t until 1814, following campaigns such as the Peninsular War and with all of Europe against him, that Napoleon was defeated and exiled to the island of Elba off the Italian coast.

Dramatically, Napoleon escaped, took back France and – outside a small town in Belgium – met a combined force of British, Prussians and other allies led by Wellington and Marshal Blücher in a showdown to decide the direction Europe would take. To paraphrase Wellington, the battle was a ‘close run thing’, with Prussian support arriving when the British were in dire need. It was also a brutal encounter, with many thousands killed or maimed. For an overview of the battle take a look at this BBC iWonder guide.

Following his final defeat Napoleon was exiled to St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. This time there was to be no escape.

There are many important anniversaries to remember this year and Waterloo may seem remote, yet when the centenary of the battle took place, the Gallipoli Campaign was only a few weeks old. If Napoleon had won the battle the balance of European and world power would have been markedly different.