title: Joan de Hamel
text: # Joan de Hamel
  
  Joan de Hamel (31 March 1924 – 28 July 2011) was a New Zealand children's writer. She grew up in London, England and later moved to the Otago Peninsula. In addition to her writing she worked as a teacher, raised a family, and bred Angora goats.
  
  ## Writing
  
  De Hamel won the 1979 Esther Glen Award for Take the Long Path (1978), and the 1985 A.W. Reed Memorial Award for Hemi's Pet (1985).
  
  Other books written include:
  
  * X Marks the Spot (1973)
  * The Third Eye (1987)
  * Hideaway (1992)
  * Hemi and the Shorty Pyjamas (1996)
  