Little Moa announces the WINNER of the Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize for 2024.
Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand, Little Moa and the Margaret Mahy Estate are thrilled to announce Herb MacDonald as the WINNER of the 2024 Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize.
This year’s entrants had the chance to illustrate Margaret Mahy’s beloved story The Great White Man Eating Shark.
The judging panel praised Herb MacDonald’s witty and inventive illustrations and commended the wonderful interplay between the text and pictures “cheeky ‘Norvin-esque’ swimmers could entertain and enthral each season’s pod of readers.”
Herb MacDonald
Born and raised in South Waikato, Herb MacDonald now lives in Titirangi, Auckland. He credits the endless supply of paper at the Tokoroa Paper Mill as the beginning of his love of drawing. His first published drawing (a zebra and a finch) appeared in the NZ Herald when he was 7 years old. After a career in advertising, including running his own design business for the last 15 years, he is excited to be rediscovering his passion for illustration.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
The Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize was launched in 2019. Christchurch-based illustrator Sarah Greig was awarded the inaugural prize for her submission for The Boy With Two Shadows which was published in 2020
Winner 2020 – Illustrator Lily Emo The Boy Who Made Things Up
Winner 2021 – Illustrator Minrui Yang for There’s a King in the Cupboard
Winner 2022 – Illustrator Jessica Twohill for The Witch in the Cherry Tree
Winner 2023 – Illustrator Alba Gil Celdran for 17 Kings and 42 Elephants
For more information www.themargaretmahyillustrationprize.co.nz/past-winners/
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens after I register?
Once you register, we will send you everything you need to get started: story text, brief with rubric and a storyboard template.
While the illustration prize is running we will email you with helpful hints, tips and guidance from our publishing team and previous winners to help you formulate the strongest submission you can. The information provided in the emails will be a helpful guide for future submissions.
Why do you ask for a full storyboard and two final art spreads to be submitted?
With picture books, one strand of the story is told via words and the other through the art. The storyboard allows the judging team to see how you will tell the story from page to page, beginning to end.
The final art showcases your use of colour and space and the little details that indicate you know your audience.
Our aim is to publish a picture book the following year using the winning submission as the first step in the publishing process.
What happens if I win the illustration prize?
Our publisher will talk to you and the Mahy Estate about the opportunity to develop your submission into published work. When agreement between all parties is met, a publishing contract, with standard advances and royalties on top of the prize money, will be offered.
You will also receive $2000 cash and $500 worth of Hachette books.
Are there further opportunities?
Since the inception of the Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize in 2019, we have published all five illustration prize winners:
- 2019 winner Sarah Greig, The Boy With Two Shadows
- 2020 winner Lily Emo, The Boy Who Made Things Up
- 2021 winner Minrui Yang, There’s a King in the Cupboard
- 2022 winner Jessica Twohill, The Witch in the Cherry Tree
- 2023 winner Alba Gil Celdrán, 17 Kings and 42 Elephants
All entrants are considered for further illustration projects. See below for details.
- 2021: The Fairies’ Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Sarah Greig
#1 NZ Children’s bestseller
Smith and Caughey’s Christmas Window
Inspiration for The Coaltion For Books 2021 Christmas Catalogue - 2021: A Stick and A Stone, illustrated by 2019 Runner Up, Hilary Jean Tapper
Published in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA.
Foreign language rights sold to Turkish publisher - 2022: Hachette Australia contracted Hilary Jean Tapper to illustrate What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say, written by the award winning Davina Bell
- 2022: The Fairies’ Night Before Christmas Activity Book, illustrated by Sarah Greig
Also available in te reo Māori, Ngā Ponimatarau me te Pō i Mua i te Kirihimete He Puka Ngohe - 2022: The Chaos Before Christmas, illustrated by Lily Emo
Smith and Caughey’s Christmas Window
Featured on Seven Sharp
Foreign Language Rights sold to Polish Publisher - 2023: The Fairies’ Easter Egg Surprise, illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper
- 2023: Hachette Australia have contracted Hilary Jean Tapper to illustrate the sequel to What To Say When You Don't Know What To Say.
- 2023: The Gnomes’ Very Berry Christmas, illustrated by Minrui Yang
- 2024: The New Zealand Easter Activity Book, illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper
- 2024: The Very Best Words, illustrated by 2021 and 2022 Runner Up Sarah Trolle
- 2024: Let Me Be Frank, illustrated by Minrui Yang
- 2024: Miles and Jones: The Anaconda Attack, illustrated by 2020 and 2022 Runner Up Cesar Lador
There are more in the works, so watch this space.
