With the help of illustrators and designers Ali Teo and John O'Reilly, his book Melu won the Children's Choice Award at the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards in Christchurch last night.
The award will now sit next to others he has won, such as the 2005 Joy Cowley Award, Best Picture Book and Children's Choice at the 2007 New Zealand Post Book Awards, Best Picture Book and Book of the Year at the 2010 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards, and the Storylines Notable Book 2010.
Melu tells the story of a herd of mules which have been clip-clopping around the sun-baked hills for generations.
They always clip-clopped in the same direction: west towards the setting sun. And they never ventured down to the glittering green sea.
But Melu was different. He was always out of step. When the herd clipped, Melu clopped, and when the others clopped, Melu clipped.
One day, he decided he wanted to go down to the glittering green sea.
The story celebrates difference and determination.
This year's Best Young Adult Fiction Award and New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award was won by Ted Dawe for his teen novel Into the River.
The judges described the book as an engaging coming-of-age novel which followed its main protagonist from his childhood in small-town rural New Zealand to an elite Auckland boarding school where he must forge his own way - including battling with his cultural identity.
''Into the River was the book that stood out for us,'' Mr Beckett said.
As the winner of both the Young Adult Fiction category and the New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, Mr Dawe received a total of $15,000 in cash prizes.
The New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards promote excellence and provide recognition for the best written and illustrated children's books published by New Zealanders each year.
This year, judges deliberated on about 150 books to find the best children's books across four categories - Young Adult Fiction, Junior Fiction, Non-fiction and Picture Book.
Children's author Eirlys Hunter and presenter of Radio New Zealand's Arts on Sunday programme Lynn Freeman joined chief judge and author Bernard Beckett on the judging panel for 2013.
Other winners were. -
Best non-fiction: Simon Morton and Riria Hotere, 100 Amazing Tales from Aotearoa (Te Papa Press).
Best junior fiction: David Hill, My Brother's War (Penguin Group NZ).
Honour award, junior fiction: Barbara Else, The Queen and the Nobody Boy: A Tale of Fontania series (Gecko Press).
Best picture book: Margaret Mahy and Gavin Bishop, Mister Whistler (Gecko Press).
Best first book: Hugh Brown, Reach (HarperCollins).
