Writer, artist, and educator Sarina Dickson has two picture books coming out next month, A Stick and a Stone, illustrated by Hilary Jean Tapper, and The Fairies’ Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Sarah Greig. She completes our Mahy Questionnaire. 1….
Where are the young trans heroes fighting dragons? Kylie, Rey, and Mindy Parry recount their experiences of trying to find trans role models in literature. As the parent of two transgender kids working as a school librarian, I’m keenly aware…
You’re favourite Mahy questionnaire is back! This month, we got award winning non-fiction writer Maria Gill to spill the tea on her changeovers, hauntings and moments of discombobulation. One of her books New Zealand Disasters: Our response, resilience and recovery…
Fresh off the ceremony at Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the results are in and your New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults winners are… The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Junior Fiction Award: Charlie…
Where do we usually get our recommendations for books to read? The bookshop, of course. We’ve asked people from five bookshelves to sell us our stunning array of junior fiction titles. Tunnel of Dreams, by Bernard Beckett (Text Publishing, 2020)…
The brilliant David Hill takes a trip down memory lane in the latest instalment of our ‘books I read to my grandchildren’ series. Read on for his reflections as the grandparent, as well as some rare, but valuable, insights from…
Why do we love games? The high-octane fun? The easy access to discovery, adventure, challenge, and endless other draws? Sure. Yes to all of that. But the real kicker? It’s the infinite possibilities. The magical sandbox to play in. A…
We’re always trying to keep things fresh and interesting in our awards coverage, whether that’s remixing what we do with which category or coming up with something new altogether. For 2021’s Picture Book Award finalists, we decided to put the…
By Leonie Agnew Leonie Agnew is back with a magical new title, The Memory Thief, following the unexpectedly heartwarming friendship between Seth, lonely troll, and Stella, a young girl going through a hard time. Enjoy this excerpt from chapter one…
Every year, we pick one of the NZCYA Awards finalist categories to get a publisher perspective. This year, we came down ki te taha o ngā kaiwhakaputa ō ngā pukapuka kei roto ki te rōpū reo Māori—on the side of the…