Aotearoa

Five activity books from Aotearoa

Tara Ward bravely takes five Kiwi activity books for a spin, and provides photographic evidence. If you’re looking for fun, wholesome, cheap ways to pass the time these summer holidays, read on! Don’t be surprised if the educators who wrote…

2017 Christmas Shopping List: Best YA Books

Do you want to be sure you’re getting top-shelf books for your favourite people this Christmas – or on any gift-giving occasion? We are making it easy for you! Here is our selection of the very best New Zealand books…

Book List: Queer & Trans Books for Schools

Young adults who are part of gender or sexual minorities may be in need of extra support in school environments. We asked School Library Assistant Cathy-Ellen Paul to help equip school staff to be their champions, including in the reading…

Gavin Bishop’s Voyages of Discovery

We get two legends together for this extraordinary interview about an extraordinary book, Aotearoa: The New Zealand Story. Donovan Bixley interviews Gavin Bishop. Rain is hammering the roof of my studio in Taupō, so my ears are squinting to hear…

Book Quiz: The change of the seasons

We may not yet have reached the Season of the Age of Aquarius, but it certainly appears to be Spring right now, and we figure sooner or later Summer will reach our fair shores. Lets do a quiz to celebrate!…

And the winners of the Book Awards are …

Freshly announced at the Awards Ceremony in Wellington, the winners of the 2017 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are … The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Russell Clark Award for Illustration SNARK Illustrated and…

This book changed my life: Once Were Warriors

Jo Cribb, the recently appointed new Chief Executive of the New Zealand Book Council, chooses one – possibly unexpected – book she wishes every person in this country could read by the age of 18. Jumping on my red Raleigh…

Quiz: first lines of classic Kiwi kids’ novels

How well do you know classic New Zealand children’s novels? Do you think you could recognise them from their first sentences? Have a go! Answers are at the bottom of the page. 1. ‘When, suddenly, on an ordinary Wednesday, it…

Book Awards: the Young Adult fiction finalists

As part of our coverage of this year’s NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, we’ve asked the publishers of the YA finalists to explain why, and how, they published the books. Their responses are compelling and passionate, and…

Book List: Families come in different shapes

We asked Thalia Kehoe Rowden to put together a list of picture books showing a range of family set-ups, from one-parent families to families with two dads; anything but ‘Mum, Dad and the kids’. Here are some great suggestions to…