Author Kirsten McDougall has recently released her second novel, Tess (VUP), and will be appearing at Wellington LitCrawl this weekend. She has written for us about reading to her children. I love reading to my kids. There’s something really special…
The New Zealand Art Activity Book is a 158-page activity book for children who love to draw, paint and otherwise express themselves. These spreads are of works from WH Hammond, Sylvia Siddell and Kerry-Ann Lee. Te Papa Press has allowed us to include PDF activity pages for two of them, plus a list of questions to start your activities based on Kerry-Ann Lee’s gorgeous spread.
How do we raise the profile of New Zealand Children’s books? Donovan Bixley has been asking around, and he has an answer… of sorts. Whenever I’m at a children’s book event the question arises: how do we raise the profile…
Our biscuit & bird illustrator Giselle Clarkson has taken on her first *current* book review! Scroll down to get a brilliant perspective on How to Mend a Kea + Other Fabulous Fix-it Tales from Wildbase Hospital, by Janet Hunt (Massey…
When is it okay for creative people to draw on cultural traditions they’re not part of? Illustrator, writer and teacher Zak Waipara has some thoughts about cultural appropriation. When Neil Gaiman wrote in Stardust, ‘Without our stories we are incomplete,’…
Waikato academic Nicola Daly introduces the New Zealand Pacific Picture Book Collection, and calls for more contributions to it. In 2012 I worked with nine librarians to create a list of picture books which told stories from and about Pacific…
Look at the Nielsen Bestsellers list each week, and you are certain to discover a whole range of books featuring kiwi. We are celebrating National Kiwi Month with this quiz, and next month will see our recommendations for the best…
Liz Donnelly was inspired by the radio plays of her childhood, and her son’s need for audio stimulation, to create a series of bilingual audio stories, starring Eardrop the rabbit. Here’s the inside scoop. ‘Radio plays’ used to be all…
Children’s comics embrace all the possibilities inherent in good fiction. They are original, compelling and relevant, but also of increased importance for reluctant readers, and those who value the written word and illustration. Here, Monty Masseurs and Nicola Crombie from…
Gecko, by Raymond Huber, illustrated by Brian Lovelock is the second Nature Storybook title from its creators. The book introduces the very young to the world of the gecko, one of the most varied lizard species on the planet. Keep…