Features

School Librarians of Aotearoa: Michelle Simms

Michelle Simms is the Library Manager and ICT Coordinator at Te Totara Primary School in the north of Hamilton. She also writes the blog Good Keen Librarian, where she talks about her experiences as a school librarian. I am the…

Book List: When Parents Break Up or Divorce

We all know books can be faithful companions in hard times. Blenheim school counsellor Louisa Woods suggests some books that might help children process what’s going on in their families during separation. Separation is a challenging, often tumultuous situation for…

Queen Olivia St Redfern: Rainbow Story Time

At The Sapling, we believe that books grow humans. Rainbow Story Time is a recent phenomenon helping to grow humans who aren’t too hung up on the gender binary, and who are comfortable with who they are. Here to tell…

Author interview: Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith

NZ-Pasifika writer Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith has recently published her first book, Dawn Raid, as a part of Scholastic’s ‘My New Zealand Story’ series. Leilani Tamu catches up with Pauline to find out more about her writing journey and the experience…

Book List: Prescription Pad Literature

We all know books can be faithful companions in hard times. Today Palmerston North Youth Librarian Alan Dingley gets out his prescription pad and suggests excellent books for children going through tough stuff. My six-year-old daughter asked me the other…

Book Quiz: Animals during wartime

Anzac Day is fast approaching, and if there’s one thing you can count on from Anzac publishing, it is great books about companion animals. We featured Maria Gill and Glyn Harper talking about this phenomenon last month, but how well…

Review: Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women

You will have seen our Sampling, you have seen why it needed to be written. Now, here’s the verdict on Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women. Is it everything it promises to be? Emily Writes is here to…

THE SAMPLING: Go Girl!

Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women by Barbara Else is a collection of inspiring true stories about New Zealand women who have done extraordinary things. There’s Dame Whina Cooper, Janet Frame, Farah Palmer, Lucy Lawless, Kate Sheppard, Nancy Wake, Sophie Pascoe, Margaret Mahy, Lydia Ko, Merata Mita, Rita Angus, Te Puea Herangi — and many more.

A Day in the Life of Illustrator Xoë Hall

Artist Xoë Hall is living her best life! As part of the TeacherTalk team, she creates learning resources for Early Childhood Education teachers, including a striking new book, Hineahuone/The Clay Woman. Today she tells us what a normal day of…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 12

Our illustrator looks into the notion that children’s book writers and illustrators are all eccentric. Is there any truth in it? And where does Giselle fit in? Read on, dear reader …