New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards

New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards
The New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards logo, as of 2013[update].
Awarded for	Excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand
Sponsored by	New Zealand Post
Country	New Zealand
Presented by	Booksellers New Zealand
Reward(s)	{{currency}} – invalid amount ()
Official website	http://www.NZPostBookAwards.co.nz

The New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards were, until 2014, a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards were in 2015 changed to be the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The awards were administered and organised by Booksellers New Zealand, an industry organisation which represents over 90% of New Zealand booksellers. The awards were presented at the end of a 10-day festival organised by the New Zealand Book Council celebrating children's literature and literacy, held annually in May.

These awards, sponsored by New Zealand Post, were established in 1997, though they have had three incarnations since they were first created in 1982. Prior to 1997, they were known as the AIM Children's Book Awards, which were created in 1990. Before that, the awards were known as the New Zealand Government Publishing Awards, which ran from 1982 to 1988. In 2003 their name was changed to the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, this became the case once again in 2014.

The original New Zealand Government Publishing Awards established in 1982 contained two categories, Children's Book of the Year and Picture Book of the Year. A non-fiction award was presented in 1986, but not in 1987 or 1988, the final years of this incarnation of the awards.

No awards were presented in 1989, but in 1990, Unilever New Zealand (then the New Zealand manufacturer of Aim toothpaste) created the AIM Children's Book Awards. The awards originally contained two categories — Fiction, and Picture Book. Second and third prizes were originally awarded, though these were replaced with honour awards in 1993, presented at the judges' discretion. More categories were added over time: Best First Book in 1992 (not presented 1994–5); Non-Fiction in 1993, when Fiction was split into two categories (Senior Fiction and Junior Fiction); and AIM Book of the Year in 1995.

In 1997, the awards became the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, and another new category was added, the New Zealand Post Children's Choice award. In 2004, the Senior Fiction category was renamed to Young Adult Fiction.