Interviews

Across the Ditch: Kate and Jol Temple

Terri-Rose Baynton, the New Zealand-based illustrator of much-talked-about new picture book Room On Our Rock, interviews Kate and Jol Temple, the Australian authors of Room On Our Rock… The book has one story that can be read two different ways….

NZ Festival Interview: R. A. Spratt

R. A. Spratt is an award winning author and television writer, best known for her two series’ Nanny Piggins and Friday Barnes, Girl Detective. Her first book The Adventures of Nanny Piggins was published in 2009 and she has continued…

Happy Birthday to Little Island Press

Happy 10th Birthday to Little Island Press! In celebration of this anniversary, Auckland teacher, writer and mother Emmaline Matagi sat down with co-founder Evotia Tamua, to hear about Little Island’s journey of connecting books and communities. I was born in…

From the Shop Floor: Children's Bookshop

We are pleased to present the first in a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children’s booksellers of New Zealand. To start things with style, we have The Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington….

Brian Falkner: A Superhero for all Eras

In 2007, when I first encountered Brian Falkner, he was at the top of the national request list for the Writers in Schools programme, which I ran at the NZ Book Council. He wrote books about sports, about soft drink…

Writer Interview: Eileen Merriman and Ella West

Eileen Merriman’s and Ella West’s latest books were on the bookshop shelves as we headed to the beach this summer. Catch Me When You Fall is for older teens, and is about 17-year-old Alex in Christchurch who is fighting leukaemia…

Sarah Davis: Re-drawing our classic books

Margaret Mahy’s The Christmas Tree Tangle was originally published in 1994, and a newly illustrated edition was released by Puffin in November 2017. We ​asked illustrator​ ​Sarah Davis​ ​to​ ​talk​ ​about​ ​the​ ​process​ ​of​ ​re-illustrating an​ ​existing​ ​book, to which…

Darryn Joseph: Kaituhi, kaita pikitia, kaiako

Today Kura Rutherford introduces Dr Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto), a writer, dad, illustrator, comic collector and Māori language lecturer. The recently appointed board member for Storylines has an extensive literary CV. He has published 23 books in te reo, he…

School Librarians of Aotearoa: Greig Daniels

New Zealand’s school librarians are passionate, engaged professionals who know how to get students of all ages and reading levels into reading. Greig Daniels is the Library Manager at Tokomairiro High School Library, in Otago. I’m currently the librarian at…

The Books of Jenny Bornholdt’s Childhood

Poet, author and anthologist Jenny Bornholdt tells us about the books she read – and heard – as a child. My earliest memory of being read to: Kate Harcourt’s voice on the radio programme Listen with Mother as I sit…