Creating a picture book—whether it’s story or illustration or both—is a massive undertaking in its own right. Doing all that and taking the self-publishing route to bring it to fruition is a whole other quest. Hayley Elliott-Kernot takes us through…
This year we’re kicking off our NZCYA Awards coverage with the Russell Clark Award for Illustration finalists! We have some exclusive insights into the process of creating the illustrations for each book, including storyboards, mood boards, working sketches, hand cutting…
Each year, the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults make for a massive occasion in the Aotearoa kids book world – move over Oscars, out of the way Silver Scrolls. This is our night. The awards celebrate excellence in…
Fifi Colston explains the costs involved in training as an illustrator, and how many books a year she has to illustrate to make ends meet. A great resource for anyone wondering why it is illustrations can be so expensive. I…
Author Linda Jane Keegan reviews two new non-fiction titles from Aotearoa; the first looks at our changing climate, and the second at the history of our country. Inside Bubble Earth – Climate Change, by Des Hunt (OneTree House) I must…
We all have that one book; the one that turned us on to reading, or reached out and grabbed us by the heart and squeezed.
Children’s author, storyteller and award winning playwright, Helen Vivienne Fletcher discusses storytime. She takes us through finding the right books, interacting with little listeners and other sage tips for engaging what can be a tough but rewarding audience! It’s 10.25am…
Tara Black attended a masterclass at the Auckland Writer’s Festival on how to create a picture book with Shaun Tan—and she was kind enough to share her discoveries with us in her super special comic reportage style! If you can’t…
This month’s instalment of the Margaret Mahy Questionnaire features your favourite author of pony fiction, Stacy Gregg!
Sometimes, we need a little escapism with a side of pep in our reading. A little pick-me-up. And fantasy can be just the thing. After all—if it’s for middle readers, it (almost) always will have a happy ending, making any…