Features

The Value of Educational Publishing

Alex Collins from Lift Publishing reflects on the value that Educational Publishing has to New Zealand’s curriculum, and explains why ‘teachers need access to rich materials that value local knowledge and ensure that students’ learning is relevant and meaningful.’ It…

The finalists of the NZ kids’ book awards are…

The NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a unique celebration of the contribution New Zealand’s children’s authors and illustrators make to building national identity and cultural heritage. Awards in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 4

Our illustrator Giselle Clarkson continues her attempts to cling to childhood innocence. This time, she delves into the deep, dark depths of another Judith Kerr classic, The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

Book List: Classics of past book awards

What makes a book last? What makes it win? I try to figure this out, as a judge of the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults this year, revisiting 15 books that won the top awards and have…

Ka Pai! Cool stuff from around the internet

Every two weeks we compile, for your browsing pleasure, cool children’s book happenings (and peripherally related news) from around Aotearoa, the world and the internet. Cool stuff from New Zealand… Wellesley College will represent New Zealand at the World Kids’…

The Sampling: Pieces of You

An excerpt from Eileen Merriman’s Pieces of You, a Young Adult novel centred on Rebecca, a teen who is the victim of a sexual assault after a party in a city she has just moved to. This passage is from the moment that Becs meets the boy-next-door at a dinner party at her home.

Publishing in Pasifika languages

Most stories for New Zealand children are published in English and some in te reo Māori – but what if you want to read a story with your child in a Pasifika language? For decades Don Long has published educational…

Book List: The Dictator and The Picture Book

Children’s author, writing teacher and editor Raymond Huber is fascinated by the way in which children’s writers have used picture books historically to fight dictators. This is especially apt right now (ahem), so here are a few books he would…

Quiz: the faces of New Zealand picture books

You know their words, you know their pictures … but do you know their faces? Here are ten Kiwi picture book creators – how many do you recognise? 1. Who am I? A. Paul Beavis B. Zac Waipara C. Toby…

Vale Barbara Murison: Champion of Kids’ Lit

Barbara Murison, MNZM, was one of the most dedicated supporters of children’s literature in New Zealand for over 60 years. Through her career as a librarian, and as a reviewer and manuscript assessor, she was a wonderful person to have…