Features

Terrific gifts for Teens

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays. It’s our final batch of recommendations for the holiday season, and we’re finishing with a bang! Check out these top-notch titles for the teens…

Book List: Detectives, Spies, & other Sneaky Sorts

Picture this. You’re a bookseller, being asked for recommendations for a ten-year-old kid who loves reading but needs something new. You pause in front of the shelf before grabbing three books to suggest – and as you give your spiel…

Fantastic gifts for kids aged 8-12

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays. This week we’ve got some rad recommendations for the 8-12 year olds in your life. The Inkberg Enigma, by Jonathon King (Gecko Press) Miro…

Great gifts for kids aged 5-7

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays. This week we bring you the coolest books for kids aged roughly 5-7. The midnight adventures of Ruru and Kiwi, by Clare Scott, illustrated…

Day In the Life of an illustrator: Flox

Even if you don’t know Flox… you know Flox. Her iconic artwork has appeared on everything from murals to umbrellas to trains – to picture books! In 2017, she illustrated Malcolm Clarke’s Tu Meke Tūī!, and it was a runaway success….

What did you do in the War, Grannie?

Dame Fiona Kidman is a legend of letters in Aotearoa. Among her many achievements and accolades, she’s been the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement (2011), she’s won the top fiction prize in the country (This Mortal…

Perfect gifts for the littlies

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays, and this year we are doing a little differently. If you are signed up to our newsletter, you’ll receive ALL of our recommendations at…

The Festival of lights: celebrating Diwali through books

Today is Diwali, the Indian festival of lights! And given that 3.9% of Aotearoa’s population has an Indian background, it seems fitting to share a booklist of children’s books around the festival. This fantastic collection is courtesy of the lovely…

te haerenga o reo pepi – the next chapter

The Reo Pēpi series is one of the real success stories in the Aotearoa world of publishing for littlies. The popularity of these labour-of-love board books can be credited as having a major role in kicking off a new wave…

The Margaret Mahy Questionnaire: Rhys Darby

Holy moly! We’ve got a Mahy Questionnaire from none other than the creator of Buttons McGinty, Rhys Darby! Of course, you may recognise him from the fact that he’s, well, world-famous in New Zealand AND beyond, but a whole lot…