Scholastic New Zealand Award
for Best Children’s Book 2020
Winner
Designer: Vida Kelly, Vida and Luke Kelly Design
Title: Mophead
Publisher: Auckland University Press
Format: 235 x 180mm, 88pp, hardback. 2-colour print for case and internals, endpapers 4-colour print. Case: woodfree paper over board with matt machine varnishing plus debossing on front, back and spine.
Typography: Lunchbox Light and hand-drawn lettering. Illustrations and hand-drawn lettering by Selina Tusitala Marsh
Judges’ comments You know you are onto something when you see a book and you get that bat squeak of excitement. As exciting and unruly as the hand drawn mop of hair on the cover, this book will resonate with kids for its authenticity, honesty, wit and downright energy. Subtitled ‘How Your Difference Makes a Difference’ Mophead tells kids that it is not only OK to be different but that you should CELEBRATE your difference. But at no point will the reader feel being preached to by author, illustrator and pacific poet Selina Tusitala Marsh. Visually rampant, typographically insane, wildly funny and brutally honest, Mophead turns a story about a kid being bullied into an entertaining, visually engaging, inspiring, hugely enjoyable and inspiring book.
