Racy kids' book goes to censor

<i>Into the River</i> author Ted Dawe.

A controversial children's novel is being reviewed by the Office of Film and Literature Classification.

Auckland author Ted Dawe's Into the River polarised the literary community after claiming top prize in this year's New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

The Herald on Sunday reported one well-regarded book store refused to stock the novel because of explicit descriptions of sex and drug-taking.

Parental advisory stickers were sent to stores to put on the covers after concerns were raised.

Information officer Kate Ward this week confirmed Into the River was now being reviewed and a decision would be made within weeks.

"It's been submitted for classification and it's going through that process," she said.

Ward said she could not confirm whether any complaints had been made as the office did not comment on cases until a decision was made.

The office has the authority to order a book be labelled "unrestricted" and recommend a suitable age or "restricted" - with a legally-enforceable age limit for sale or distribution.

Dawe said this week he was aware the book was being looked at.

"I don't think it needs to be restricted at all. Fifty Shades of Grey was completely unrestricted and that's 400 pages of sado-masochism."