Jo Noble

Jo Noble was a lifelong promoter of books for children. Jo was born in Auckland but spent most of her childhood in Coroglen, on the Coromandel Peninsula. Jo's family lived 12 miles from the nearest shop and Jo went to school on horseback. Jo worked as a psychiatric nurse, then spent two years in England, travelling around demonstrating knitting machines. This was when she first met her friend and colleague, Judy Keestra. Jo won a True Confessions competition with a story called 'I Was a Dipsomaniac'! She went on to the New Zealand Women's Weekly and the New Zealand Home Journal for six years. At the end of the 1970s Jo started a children's magazine called 'Jabberwocky' full of stories, articles, competitions and book reviews.

By this time she owned several cartons of children's books, motivating her to establish Jabberwocky Children's Bookshop in Blockhouse Bay. When Judy Keestra joined the business they moved it to Balmoral. The first Jabberwocky magazine ran for seven or eight years, went into abeyance, and revived again in 1992, running for another eight years. Jo was also instrumental in producing Jabbering About Books, a book review newsletter which turned into Well Read when the bookshop was sold. Jo continued publishing Well Read to the end of 2002. Early in the 1990s Jo and others at the Jabberwocky Bookshop began joint production of the annual New Zealand Children's Books in Print with the owner of Tapui Education Books. Over time Jo took sole charge, and was proud that the 2002 issue sold out. Jo edited three anthologies for children: The Great Pavlova Cover Up, 100 New Zealand Poems for Children, and 30 New Zealand Stories for Children. 

Selected bibliography:

• 100 New Zealand Poems for Children edited by Jo Noble, illustrated by David Elliot (Random House 1999).
• 30 New Zealand Stories for Children edited by Jo Noble, illustrated by David Elliot (Random House  2000).
• The Great Pavlova Cover Up: New Zealand Stories for Children edited by Jo Noble, illustrated by Jennifer Cooper (Cumulus 2001).

Awards:

• CLA Award for Services to Children's Literature (now the Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award) 1993.
• Storylines Notable Books List 2000 Non-fiction list for 100 New Zealand Poems for Children.
• Storylines Notable Books List 2002 Junor Fiction list for The Great Pavlova Cover Up.
• Officer of the NZ Order of Merit for services to children's literature 2003.