Hairy Maclary is a firm favourite on Kiwi kids' bookshelves. Photo: Lynley Dodd / Penguin Books New Zealand
More than a third of this year's Whitcoulls Kids' Top 50 Books list were written by New Zealand authors.
Long-running favourite Lynley Dodd topped the list this year with Hairy Maclary - while Harry Potter continued to captivate, claiming the second spot on the list.
Just under a quarter of the books in the Top 50 were there for the first time.
This year marks the 25th for the list, generated by children's votes for their favourite reads.
Whitcoulls books manager Joan Mackenzie said the nation's young readers were keen to get behind their most treasured stories.
"Such is our Kiwi kids' love of reading, many of the voting papers arrived complete with ringing endorsements; some even included lovingly detailed illustrations to support their favourite book."
Classics such as The Gruffalo (8th) and We're Going on a Bear Hunt (17th) continued to delight and inspire, but this year's list had a strong local presence.
Kat Quin's Kuwi's First Egg and Betty and Alan Gilderdale's The Little Yellow Digger placed fourth and seventh respectively, and The Wonky Donkey was 11th.
The results also revealed young New Zealanders' love of bingeable series - 17 books on the top 50 were part of a series.
Three series by New Zealand author James Russell reached the top 50 this year - with his Dragon Defenders, Children of the Rush and Dragon Brothers coming in at 16th, 18th and 31st respectively.