{{Short description|New Zealand children's author}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox author | name = Dawn McMillan | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=100%}} | image = Dawn McMillan MNZM (cropped).jpg | alt = | caption = McMillan in 2026 | birth_date = | birth_place = {{#statements:P19}} | death_date = {{#statements:P570}} | death_place = {{#statements:P20}} | other_names = | fields = | workplaces = {{#statements:P108}} | patrons = | alma_mater = {{#statements:P69}} | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = {{ubl|Storylines Notable Book Awards (2003, 2013, 2017)|Children's Choice Award (2003)|Booksellers New Zealand Gold Medal}} | signature = <!--(filename only)--> | signature_alt = | website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} --> | footnotes = | spouse = | children = | notable_works = ''I Need a New Bum!'' | genre = Children's picture books }} '''Dawn Mary McMillan''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM}} is a New Zealand children's writer, focusing mainly on picture books and educational material. In December 2025, McMillan was appointed a Member of the [[New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to children's literature.
==Career==
McMillan worked as a primary school teacher, before beginning to write for children in the late 1990s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=31 December 2025 |title=New Year Honours List 2026 - Citations for Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit {{!}} Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/honours/lists/ny2026-mnzm |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=www.dpmc.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref> She has written more than forty picture books and over 200 educational works, with her first work, ''Sea Secrets'', published in 1998.<ref name=":0" /> Her books have been sold internationally, including in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.<ref name=":0" />
Jason, the lead character in ''Jason and the Blind Puppy'' and ''Missing!'' (both published 2004), wears hearing aids and uses sign language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pajka |first=Sharon |date=1 September 2007 |title=Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature: International Children's Books with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Characters |url=https://pajka.blogspot.com/2007/09/international-childrens-books-with-deaf.html |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature}}</ref>
In 2012 McMillan published ''[[I Need a New Bum!]]'', illustrated by Ross Kinnaird, about a boy who is anxious about the crack in his bottom.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=I Need A New Bum! |url=https://www.booktrust.org.uk/book-recommendations/bookfinder/i-need-a-new-bum/ |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=BookTrust |language=en-GB}}</ref> The book has been translated into seven languages, becoming an international bestseller, and was the first in a series of bum-focused books.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dawn McMillan - Writer's Files • Read NZ Te Pou Muramura |url=https://www.read-nz.org/writers-files/writer/mcmillan-dawn |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=www.read-nz.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Hirata |first=Daisuke |date=19 September 2022 |title=Happy 10th Birthday to I Need a New Bum! {{!}} Oratia Media |url=https://oratia.co.nz/childrens-books/happy-10th-birthday-to-i-need-a-new-bum/ |access-date=2 January 2026 |language=en-NZ}}</ref> In 2018, a video of the Australian-based The Scottish Granny reading the book to her grandchild went viral.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wetter |first=Erica |date=18 December 2018 |title=The Scottish Granny Cracks Up and Another Book Becomes a Bestseller |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/78864-the-scottish-granny-cracks-up-and-another-book-becomes-a-bestseller.html |access-date=7 January 2026 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}</ref> For the book's tenth anniversary, a bilingual English–Māori version was published, titled ''Kia Hou Taku Tou.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Booklovers |first=N. Z. |date=9 August 2022 |title=Interview: Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird talk about Kia Hou Taku Tou |url=https://www.nzbooklovers.co.nz/post/interview-dawn-macmillan-and-ross-kinnaird-talk-about-kia-hou-taku-tou |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=nzbooklovers |language=en}}</ref> In 2022, a teacher in [[Byram, Mississippi]] was fired for reading the book (published as ''I Need a New Butt!'' in the US) to his second-grade class''.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Braunias |first=Steve |date=12 February 2023 |title=Teacher sacked in culture wars fracas |url=https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/02/12/teacher-sacked-in-culture-wars-fracas/ |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=Newsroom |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Kyndall |date=19 September 2025 |title=Court hears fired Hinds County assistant principal's case |url=https://www.wapt.com/article/oral-arguments-to-begin-in-former-hinds-county-assistant-principals-firing-case/66929935 |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=WAPT |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=I Need a New Butt!, I Broke My Butt!, My Butt is So NOISY! |url=https://store.doverpublications.com/products/9780486848631 |access-date=8 January 2026 |website=Dover Publications |language=en}}</ref> However, in late January 2026 his dismissal was reversed by an [[appeals court]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kirk |first=Rylee |date=29 January 2026 |title=Educator Who Read 'I Need a New Butt!' to Students Wins Job Back in Court |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/us/new-butt-book-appeal.html?smid=nytcore-android-share |website=[[New York Times]] |access-date=31 January 2026}}</ref>
McMillan is married and lives in [[Waiomu]], on the [[Coromandel Peninsula]].<ref name=":3" />
== Honours and awards == Picture book ''Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms?'', co-authored with Bert Signal, won a [[Storylines Notable Book Awards|Storylines Notable Book Award]] in 2003. The book also won the Children's Choice Award in the 2003 [[New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults]].<ref name="2003Awards">{{cite web |date=28 September 2011 |title=2003 Awards |url=http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/2003-Awards |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731004430/http://www.booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-childrens-book-awards/2003-Awards |archive-date=31 July 2013 |access-date=2 January 2026 |work=New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards |publisher=Booksellers New Zealand |oclc=182896192 |location=Wellington, New Zealand}}</ref><ref name="ChchLibNZPostChildrensChoice">{{cite web |year=2013 |title=New Zealand Post Children's Choice Award |url=http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Kids/LiteraryPrizes/NZPost/Choice/ |access-date=2 January 2026 |publisher=[[Christchurch City Libraries]] |location=Christchurch, New Zealand}}</ref>
McMillan also won Storylines Notable Book Awards in 2013, for ''Colour the Stars'', and 2017, for ''The Harmonica''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dawn McMillan - Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust |url=https://www.storylines.org.nz/search-profiles/dawn-mcmillan/profiles/ |access-date=2 January 2026 |website=www.storylines.org.nz |language=en-NZ}}</ref>
In the [[2026 New Year Honours (New Zealand)|2026 New Year Honours]], McMillan was appointed a Member of the [[New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to children's literature.<ref name=":0" />
McMillan has been awarded a Booksellers New Zealand Gold Medal.<ref name=":0" />
== Selected works ==
* ''Sea Secrets'' (1998) * ''Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms?'' (2003) * ''Colour the Stars'' (2013) * ''The Harmonica'' (2017)
=== The New Bum Series === * ''I Need a New Bum!'' (2012), illustrated by Ross Kinnaird, published as ''I Need a New Butt!'' in the US in 2014 by Dover<ref name=":2" /> * ''I've Broken My Bum!'' * ''My Bum is SO NOISY!'' * ''My Bum is SO CHEEKY!'' * ''My Bum’s ON THE RUN!''
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQoYjU2Fh0M The Scottish Granny reading ''I Need a New Bum!''], 22 September 2018, via YouTube * [https://web.archive.org/web/20230302201108/https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201788524/dawn-mcmillan-on-using-humour-to-engage-young-readers Dawn McMillan on using humour to engage young readers], [[Radio New Zealand]] interview with McMillan, 9 February 2016 * ''[https://www.valleyprofile.co.nz/2025/12/31/authors-work-is-all-for-the-children/ Author’s work is all for the children]'', 31 December 2025 {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Dawn}} [[Category:New Zealand educators]] [[Category:New Zealand women writers]] [[Category:People from Coromandel Peninsula]] [[Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit]] [[Category:New Zealand children's writers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]