Edify Award for
Best Educational Book 2015
Winner 2015
Designer Shannon Jahnel Lanktree
Title Meariki: The Quest for Truth by Helen Pearse-Otene, illustrated by Andrew Burdan
Publisher Ministry of Education / Huia Publishers
Format 180 x 250mm, 52pp, perfect bound
Judges’ Comments The comic is the perfect way to engage young print readers in the age of screen-based entertainment. Meariki uses many devices well to create a visually engaging read: the illustrations are rich and intricate and the variation in box sizes provides dynamism beyond the pictures themselves. I was impressed by the use of colour to reinforce the sense of drama and the range of characters is imaginative – who doesn’t like spider-riding zombie witch queens?
