The Joy Cowley Award was established by Storylines: Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand in 2002 to honour the outstanding contribution to children's literature by Joy Cowley.
The Award is for a picture book manuscript, of no more than 1000 words, for children 0-7 or 7 – 13 years and is awarded annually, when merited. It consists of an award of NZ$1500 with an offer of publication by Scholastic New Zealand. [1]
Entries close 31 October each year. The award is announced each year in March and the book published the following year. The entrants must be residents of New Zealand.
| Year | Author | Book | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Julie Leibrich | The Biggest Number in the Universe | |
| 2004 | Jean Prior | The Waka | |
| 2005 | Kyle Mewburn | Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck! | |
| 2006: | Moira Wairama | The Puppet Box | |
| 2007 | no award | ||
| 2008 | Michelle Osment | Tiny Miss Dott and Her Dotty Umbrella | |
| 2009 | June Peka | Magpie Mischief | |
| 2010 | Lucy Davey | Out of Bed, Fred! | |
| 2011 | Sarah Johnson |