The 2018 Storylines Children’s Literature  Notable Book List, for the highest quality books in four genres published during 2017, is compiled from more than 100 entries from publishers by expert panels of authors, teachers, librarians, academics and parents.

The annual list was begun by Storylines in 1999 and selection is eagerly sought by authors, illustrators and publishers. It provides a useful reading and purchasing guide to families, schools and libraries, and to young readers.

The 2018 Storylines Notable Books list is:

Picture Books

• What Are You Supposed to be?Paul Beavis (Scholastic NZ)
• Torty and the Soldier, Jennifer Beck & Fifi Colston (Scholastic NZ)
• The Longest Breakfast, Jenny Bornholdt & Sarah Wilkins (Gecko Press)
• Ng? Tae / Colours, Kitty Brown & Kirsten Parkinson (Reo P?pi)
• Scarface Claw, Hold Tight!Lynley Dodd (Penguin Random House)
• That’s Not the Monster We Ordered, Richard Fairgray (Penguin Random House)
• If I had an Elephant, Richard Fairgray & Terry Jones (Scholastic NZ)
• The Curious Ar-Chew, Sarah Grundy, Ali Teo & John O’Reilly (Scholastic NZ)
• Inspector Brunswick: The Case of the Missing Eyebrow, Angela Keoghan & Chris Lam Sam (Tate
• Publishing)
• Ambulance, Ambulance!Sally Sutton & Brian Lovelock (Walker Books Australia)
• It’s My Egg and You Can’t Have It, Kennedy Warne & Heather Hunt (Potton & Burton)

Special mention*:

• Tu Meke Tui: Koni atu k? ng? ?hua o te manu r?rere, Malcolm Clarke &Hayley King (Little Love)

Junior Fiction

• Flying Furballs: Most Wanted, Donovan Bixley (Upstart Press)
• Flying Furballs: Unmasked, Donovan Bixley (Upstart Press)
• Helper and Helper, Joy Cowley & Gavin Bishop (Gecko Press)
• The Thunderbolt Pony, Stacy Gregg (HarperCollins)
• The Spaghetti Giraffe, Sarah Johnson & Deborah Hinde (Flat Bed Press)
• How Not to Stop a Kidnap Plot,Suzanne Main (Scholastic NZ)
• My New Zealand Story: Bastion Point, Tania Roxborogh (Scholastic NZ)
• Awatea’s Treasure, Fraser Smith (Huia Publishers)
• Miniwings #1: Glitterwing’s Book Week Blunder, Sally Sutton & Kirsten Richards (Scholastic NZ)

Special mention:

• The Dragon Defenders – Book One, James Russell (Dragon Brothers)
• The Dragon Defenders – Book Two: The Pitbull Returns, James Russell (Dragon Brothers)

Young Adult

• The Severed Land, Maurice Gee (Penguin Random House)
• Flight Path, David Hill (Penguin Random House)
• Zeustian Logic, Sabrina Malcolm (Gecko Press)
• Pieces of You, Eileen Merriman (Penguin Random House)
• The Traitor and the Thief, Gareth Ward (Walker Books Australia)

Non-fiction

• New Zealand’s Great White Sharks: How science is revealing their secrets, Alison Ballance (Potton & Burton)
• Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story, Gavin Bishop (Penguin Random House)
• Whose Feet are These?,Gillian Candler & Fraser Williamson (Potton & Burton)
• Collins Field Guide to the New Zealand Seashore, Sally Carson & Rod Morris (HarperCollins)
• Abel Tasman: Mapping the Southern Lands, Maria Gill & Marco Ivancic (Scholastic NZ)
• Toroa’s Journey, Maria Gill & Gavin Mouldey (Potton & Burton)
• Sky High: Jean Batten’s Incredible Flying Adventures, David Hill (Penguin Random House)
• How to Mend a Kea + Other Fabulous Fix-it Tales from Wild Base Hospital, Janet Hunt (Massey University)
• Nature Storybooks: Gecko, Raymond Huber & Brian Lovelock (Walker Books Australia)
• Cook Islands Heroes, David Riley & Michel Mulipola (Reading Warrior)
• Explore! Aotearoa, Bronwen Wall & Kimberly Andrews (Kennett Brothers)

Special mention:

• Powering up with Joseph Parker,David Riley (Reading Warrior)
• Go Fiji, Go, David Riley (Reading Warrior)

* Several books did not make the Notable Books list but received a special mention because of their contribution to their particular genre.