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…
Raymond Huber’s childhood was enriched by the stories of the Moomins, told by Tove Jansson. Here, he tells us about moomintrolls, hattifatteners and more. Huber’s most recent title, Gecko, illustated by Brian Lovelock, was released this month. I’ve just started…
Non-fiction writer Maria Gill ponders the nature of a creative non-fiction story for children and how creative non-fiction stories are categorised. Toroa’s Journey, by Maria Gill and Gavin Mouldey, is released this week by Potton & Burton. Abel Tasman: Mapping…
An excerpt from Suzanne Main’s How Not to Stop a Kidnap Plot, a Junior Fiction novel that tells the tale of how Michael’s desire to get revenge on rich kid bully Angus backfires. Chapter 3 recounts the germination of a plan, and the introduction of the marvellous Miss Munro.