MEDAL FOR N.Z. AUTHOR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 269, 14 November 1945, Page 3

MEDAL FOR N.Z. AUTHOR

A CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE GIVEN BY THE LIBRARIES' ASSOCIATION (P.A.) Wellington, Nov. 13. Miss Stella Morice, of Wellington, has been awarded the “Esther Glen” medal for 1945 for, the “Book of Wiremu." This announcement was made to-day by the president of the New Zealand Libraries' Association, Mr. John Barr The Libraries’ Association decided about a year ago to offer an annual award for the best children’s book written and published in New Zealand. The committee which drew up the conditions for the award recommended a medal, to be known as the "Esther Glen Medal" in memory of Esther Glen, author of “Uncles Three at Kamahi," and a pioneer in journalism for children in New Zealand. Of the books available for this year's award the judges voted unanimously for the successful entry, “The Book of Wiremu,” which is a most attractive story of a small Maori boy, Wiri, who lives with his uncle. Hori, by the Waitukituki River. The story is a good picture of modern, nartly-Europeanised, happy-go-lucky Maoris, who live for the day alone. Food is the chief concern in life, and is obtained by fishing, picking wild cherries and working for the settlers over the river in return for meat and flour. There is gusto in the story which carries the reader along, yet nothing is improbable, or over sentimentalised. The speech and outlook of the Maori boy is well reproduced.