Archives

Resources: Where to find teaching notes and activities for Aotearoa books

There is a multitude of resources available for Aotearoa children’s books and The Sapling has collated as many as we can find all in one handy place! We’ve also included a non-exhaustive list of other places to find non-book-specific resources….

A Day in the Life: Feana Tu‘akoi

Feana Tuʻakoi has authored many fiction and non-fiction works for children and is the current University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence. Here she tells us about why she writes what she writes, and…

Librarians of Aotearoa: Coming in from the cold—a school library as a source of warmth, inspiration and resilience-building

Kura Rutherford describes her role as a Steiner school librarian, and how the holistic curriculum means the school library is able to support the wellbeing of the students in an environment where there is room for it all—the scientific, practical,…

The Mahy Questionnaire: Elena de Roo

Another month, another Mahy Questionnaire! This time we’re featuring former librarian and award-winning writer and poet Elena de Roo. Her latest title Ring Ting Tūī—a cheeky rhyming counting book—is out now! Read on to find out Elena’s takes on rollercoaster-like…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 42

The newest Giselle Clarkson Comic is here, and this month’s installment reflects on Giselle’s most recent tour of duty—her second Storylines Story Tour.

Opening New Worlds: Enhancing Access to Multilingual Picture Books

What are the opportunities in Aotearoa for Indian immigrants and their families to read books in their homes languages? Children’s book author Aruna Shekar dives into the availability of Indian language children’s books and why she wanted to publish her…

Pasifika Book Hub: Connecting to tagata o le moana stories

More and more creators are turning to independent publishing to get their stories out into the world. Owner of Mila’s Books Dahlia Malaeulu tells us about the new Pasifika Book Hub which aims to support tagata o le moana in…

Q&A: Pukapuka Adventures at Auckland Writers Festival

The 2024 Auckland Writers Festival is coming up in a week with events taking place from 14 – 19 May. We asked the children’s events programmer Gabrielle Vincent about what’s going on for kids at the festival, and especially about…

Quiz: All Things Booktown!

Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival kicks off next week, hosted in Aotearoa’s one and only Book Town! But what exactly does it mean to be a ‘Book Town’? Where else in the world might you find them? What is the lore…

From the Shop Floor: For the Love of Books

Featherston Booktown Festival is back this month for its ninth year, so we thought it fitting to kick off this month with a profile of a Featherston-based bookstore! For the Love of Books is a melting pot of second-hand books,…