The Sapling

2018 End-of-Year Shopping List: NZ Factual Books

Do you want to be sure you’re getting top-shelf books for your favourite people this Christmas – or on any gift-giving occasion? We are making it easy for you! Here is our selection of 2018’s very best New Zealand factual…

2018 End-of-Year Shopping List: Junior Fiction

Do you want to be sure you’re getting top-shelf books for your favourite people this Christmas – or on any gift-giving occasion? We are making it easy for you! Here is our selection of the very best New Zealand junior…

2018 End-of-Year Shopping List: NZ Picture Books

Do you want to be sure you’re getting top-shelf books for your favourite people this Christmas – or on any gift-giving occasion? We are making it easy for you! Here is our selection of the very best New Zealand picture…

THE SAMPLING: Flight of the Fantail

Flight of the Fantail is a debut YA novel by Steph Matuku, published by Huia. We are pleased to publish the first chapter to whet your appetite for this spooky homegrown mystery.

Book Quiz: A Spooky Bunch of NZ Books

The spookiest night of the year is here again. Before you send your little ghouls, witches and Wilberforces out, see how much you know about scary NZ stories for kids of all ages. Test yourself, share with a friend, and…

School Librarians of Aotearoa: Youth Edition!

New Zealand’s young library assistants are passionate about reading and love recommending books to their peers. As it is the time of year our young people make decisions about leadership opportunities in the year ahead, we thought it was high…

Book List: Books up for Bestseller of the Decade

What makes a bestselling New Zealand kids book? This list looks at eight of the bestselling kids books and what makes them so popular. Filled with classics and recent gems, everyone should know at least one of the wonderful stories…

THE SAMPLING: Legacy

We’re pleased to present an excerpt from Legacy (Huia), a new YA novel by Whiti Hereaka (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa), the author of the multi award-winning Bugs (Huia).

And the winners of the Book Awards are …

Freshly announced at the Awards Ceremony in Wellington, the winners of the 2018 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are … The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Elsie Locke Award for Non-fiction Aotearoa: the new…

Book Quiz: New Zealand’s Heroes and Heroines

New Zealand’s legends inspire our tamariki to believe that the sky is the limit. How much do you know about these biographies targeted at children and their kiwi connections? Test yourself, share with a friend, and let us know on…