Christchurch writer and illustrator, Gavin Bishop won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at this year's Children's Book Awards for his beautiful book 'Aotearoa, The New Zealand Story'.
It's arguably the highest accolade in the business, taking its name from New Zealand's most celebrated children's writer - Margaret Mahy, who was also Gavin's close friend and collaborator.
This week Gavin will be sharing his ideas of the kind of country he hoped to capture for his readers, at the Going West Festival in West Auckland. He will appear in conversation at the festival with Margaret Mahy's daughter - Bridget Mahy.
Gavin's latest historical work of non-fiction is 'Cook's Cook' which follows the 1768 journey of James Cook's H.M. Endeavour with his ship's cook, the one-handed John Thompson, as story teller.
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