Annelies Judson explores the Wellington edition of Books Alive, the schools programme that accompanies the NZCYA awards. It’s a beautiful morning in the capital and lines of children, like wriggling eels, are making their way into the National Library. Once…
Fresh off the ceremony at Pipitea Marae, Wellington, the winners of the 2024 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are… The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Junior Fiction Award: Nine Girls by Stacy Gregg (Ngāti…
There is something very special about having your favourite book creator come and talk at your school, or meeting a new author or illustrator who shares their stories and makes you laugh. They are definitely favourites at schools and libraries,…
Illustrated by Alba Gil Cedrán This month’s Sampling is from last year’s winner of the Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize, Alba Gil Cedrán, in a re-imagining of Mahy’s 17 Kings and 42 Elephants. The shortlist for this year’s award will be…
In honour of the shortlist announcement for this year’s NZCYA Awards, this quiz is about all things NZCYA related! How much do you know about the Awards of past and present? Check out our coverage of the award finalists here….
Susan Ryan from a second-hand store of books and oddities in Featherston tells about their collection, challenges, and the value of a special find. Mr Feather’s Den started trading in December 2012, on State Highway 2 in Featherston. From the…
Last month drag performers Coco and Erika Flash took Brian Tamaki to court over his protests and public comments against rainbow storytimes which caused them to cancel their storytime tours. Education researcher Kate Morgan writes about the importance of children…
When reading our Junior Fiction finalists, Sarah Forster was blown away as always by the brilliance of Aotearoa’s authors that write for this audience. She asked each of the five authors to answer five probing questions, including a well-disguised version…
It’s time to celebrate an oft overlooked aspect of book creation—the design. The Publishers Association of New Zealand has just announced the shortlist for Aotearoa’s best-designed books in nine categories. Here we are showcasing the three which focus on books…
You know it, you love it—it’s the Mahy Questionnaire! This month we are featuring former educator turned multi award-winning author Mandy Hager! She tells us all about recurring newborn nightmares, sweet-talking cars and desiccated skinks, among other things. Her latest…