Scholastic New Zealand Award
for Best Children’s Book 2025

Finalist

Designer: Kate Barraclough, Kate Frances Design, with illustrations from Jo Pearson

Title: Five Wee Pūteketeke
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand
Format: 270 x 214mm, 24pp, paperback, cover with matt lamination and spot gloss.

Typography: Adobe Garamond Pro, Crayon En Folie and Jungle Giant Print

Illustration style:
"I wanted to reference the vintage nursery rhyme books of my childhood like the classic Five Wee Ducklings, adapted for this book. I chose warm hues with pink underpainting to give the whole book a bright, crisp feel, evoking the crystal clear waters and fresh air of Lake Wānaka."

Publisher's Brief
"Jo’s illustrations had a charming mid-century style and palette and we wanted the design and font to work with that and let the gorgeous illustrations speak for themselves. We wanted to include some factual information about pūteketeke on every page, but we didn’t want to use intrusive boxes so the designer picked a different font to the body font and then placed the text on the illustrations in a way that keeps it separate from the main text, quite unobtrusive but also easy to read if the reader wants more details."