The Sapling

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…

Book Awards: Best First Book Authors Tell All!

How does an author not only get their book published, but get their book shortlisted for the Best First Book award? We asked each of this year’s finalists how they went from unpublished amateur to finalist. Eileen Merriman, finalist for…

Book Awards: The Non-fiction Finalists

As part of our coverage of this year’s NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, we’ve asked the publishers of the non-fiction finalists to explain why that manuscript, that idea caught their imaginations. Their responses are compelling and passionate,…

From the Shop Floor: Scorpio Books

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children’s booksellers of New Zealand. Here’s the ever-resilient Scorpio Books in Christchurch. Dave Cameron, the owner of Scorpio in Christchurch,…

Book Quiz: The 2018 children's book awards

This year’s NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults winners will be announced on 8 August. Before that, we thought we’d test your knowledge of the shortlisted books. Each answer is the title of one of this year’s finalists. Good luck! Answers…