Stephanie Pohe-Tibble (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu) joins Children and Young Adults Book Awards judges Bob Docherty, Fiona Mackie and Annemarie Florian, as Māori Language Advisor for the 2015 awards.

“We are absolutely delighted, and very fortunate, that someone of Stephanie’s stature and experience in te reo Māori is assisting us with this important element of this year’s awards,” says Nicola Legat, chair of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust.

Stephanie is a licensed Māori translator, and has an extensive background in both teaching and publishing Māori language resources. She has previously managed the education publishing team at Huia Publishers and has a passion for Māori language and stories.

Stephanie has also worked as a director, reporter and presenter for the archival documentary series Waka Huia, and the Marae programme at TVNZ. Stephanie Pohe-Tibble says: “It’s great to see the diversity of entries for the Māori language list for this year’s Childrens’ Book Awards — from beginners to fluent readers of Māori — there is something here for all New Zealand children.”

The winner of this award will be revealed along with the finalist list for the book awards on Tuesday 9 June 2015. This date will also see the Hell Children’s Choice voting open, with children being encouraged to vote for their own favourite books based on a student-generated list.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for 2015 is supported by Creative NZ, Nielsen Book, NZ Book Tokens, Copyright Licensing Limited, and the Publishers Association of New Zealand.