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DEAR JOHN: TRAINS, TOUGH GIRLS & KILLING JOY

John McIntyre from The Children’s Bookshop in Wellington is a top children’s bookseller. He’s here once a month to answer your child-related reading questions. Dear John, My four-year-old son is obsessed with trains, and if I have to read another…

Crafts with Fifi: Tiny Walnut Tortoises

Never be stuck for something to do! Keep your hands and brain busy with glue, tape and scissors – and have crafty fun with Fifi! An adult Greek tortoise, like Torty, is around 20cm long. But you can make a…

FUTURE WORLDS: GROWING UP IN A BOOKSHOP

Multi award-winning US slam poet Anis Mojgani writes about the things which captivate us as children, the magic and promise books hold, and how it is to grow up in a New Orleans children’s bookshop. The pages of my childhood…

Emily Writes and the books her kids are reading

Hilarious writer-about-parenting, Emily Writes tells us about the books her kids love, and what story time looks like at their place.

Ka pai! Cool stuff from around the internet

Every two weeks we compile, for your browsing pleasure, cool children’s book happenings (and peripherally related news) from around Aotearoa, the world and the internet. Given we are all about adult conversations about children’s literature, it’s probably not too surprising…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 1

In the first of our monthly comics by Giselle Clarkson, we learn the great, early influence Raymond Briggs had on our illustrator.

TEENAGE WITCH: growing up with Hermione

For International Women’s Day, an essay by Nina Powles about Hermione Granger, feminism and searching for yourself in books. My room at the house near the beach was small and blue. It was empty except for a fold-out bed and…

Searching for the Snark with David Elliot

Legendary author and illustrator Gavin Bishop interviews legendary author and illustrator David Elliot about his masterwork, Snark.

The Reckoning: Better Laureate than Never

Kyle Mewburn tells us why our children’s writers are so special, and opens a discussion about why New Zealand should appoint a Children’s Laureate. If your orbit has intersected with the local children’s literature scene over the last few years,…

A day in the life of a picture-book writer

Marmaduke Duck creator, Juliette MacIver explains how she’s managed to write such a vast number of excellent rhyming picture books, so we all might follow suit.