I was somewhat surprised when Read NZ Te Pou Muramura announced the first ever Aotearoa NZ Children’s Book Week 15 – 21 August 2026, for as a former children’s librarian and member of several judging panels over the years, I had also been involved in three decades of organising and participating in children’s book week events.   At the NZ Children’s Book Awards ceremony in Wellington last Wednesday I shared my concerns with  Ann Packer, children’s book reviewer for The Listener, as we were both involved in regional event planning for the AIM Children’s Book Awards in the 1990s. We then spoke to Juliet Blyth, CEO of Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, and I offered to prepare a brief history of NZ Children’s Book Awards. National Library’s Papers Past reveals that the Prime Minister Mr Fraser, patron of the New Zealand Library Association’ announced the inaugural Children’s Book Week 12 th  – 18 th  November 1944, after the ‘Dominion accepted an invitation from the American...