Congratulations Wayne Mills

The Storylines Foundation has granted life membership to Kids Lit Quiz quizmaster and Storylines identity Wayne Mills, to acknowledge “his tireless promotion of children’s reading and books for more than three decades, through the Children’s Literature Association, as founding member of the Children’s Book Foundation (including seven years as chair of the Management Committee) and as contributor to the work of the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust and Foundation. Also for his many years’ service as teacher at intermediate and tertiary level, and his enterprise as initiator (in 1991) and acclaimed Quizmaster of the New Zealand and International Kids Lit Quiz”.

Wayne trained at Ardmore Teachers’ College and spent 16 years teaching in Napier and Tirau before becoming a lecturer at Waikato University in 1989and later a  senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Auckland School of Arts, Languages, and Literacies. He established the popular Kids’ Lit Quiz, held annually in New Zealand, in 1991, and in 2003 extended this to an international event. He is widely regarded as one of New Zealand’s foremost authorities on children’s and young adult books.
 ‘The quiz is about rewarding kids who love reading and who are good at it,’ says Wayne. ‘For decades in schools we’ve recognised achievement in other arenas – through science fairs, Mathex and, above all, in sport. There was nothing for our passionate young readers. The competitive side to the quiz is a real draw and I believe it is specifically benefiting boys as a result.’
Wayne’s advocacy for children’s books and reading has included chairing roles on the Hawke’s Bay Children’s Literature Association, resurrecting the Waikato Children's Literature Association, and the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation, now the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust.

Wayne was the winner of the 2008 Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal. .
Read more about Wayne.
Read more here about Kids Lit Quiz.

Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award

Storylines Gavin Bishop Award

Storylines Notable Books Awards

Storylines manuscript awards

Book launch

Storylines patron Dame Wendy Pye recently launched the book Children’s Literature in a Multiliterate Word edited by Waikato lecturer Nicola Daly and Storylines chair Dr Libby Limbrick, with advisory editor Pam Dix. This book is a diverse collection of essays by 12 scholars in children’s literature from the very successful 35^th IBBY World Congress 2016 held in Auckland. You can order from www.ucl-ioe-press.com and in Kindle/eBook formats.

 

Notable Books 2018

The annual list of Storylines Notable Books has been announced. The list is a great guide to the best new Zealand children's and YA books published in the last year.