Awards

2023 NZCYA Te Kura Pounamu Award Finalists

Here at The Sapling, we always love a good behind-the-scenes look into our favourite books. So, as part of our coverage of this year’s NZCYA Awards, we’ve asked the authors of the Te Kura Pounamu Award finalists to spill the…

2023 NZCYA Russell Clark Award For Illustration Finalists

We’re thrilled to be continuing our tradition of bringing you the inside scoop with an exclusive look into the illustration process for the finalist titles in this category. Be it character designs, cover concepts, working sketches, magnificent final spreads, or…

2023 NZCYA Picture Book Award Finalists

Editor Linda Jane Keegan took the picture book finalists to Tākaka Primary School to get the opinions from some of the junior classes. They were very receptive and engaged, and loved sharing their thoughts on the books (and anything else…

A celebration of Sandra Morris, ONZM

In the realm of children’s literature and art, Sandra Morris stands out as a remarkable talent whose illustrations have brought countless stories to life. Through her intricate, accurate illustrations, particularly focusing on flora and fauna, she has helped shape the…

The Finalists of the 2023 NZ Kids’ Book Awards Are…

Each year, the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults make for a massive occasion in the Aotearoa kids’ book world—move over Oscars, out of the way Silver Scrolls. This is our night. It’s my first year covering the NZCYA…

The Winners of the 2022 NZCYA awards are…

The day has come, the occasion where even a hiatus can’t keep us down! The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults was held on the evening of 10 August, and although distance and lurgy kept Team Sapling…

The finalists of the 2022 NZ kids’ book awards are…

Each year, the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults make for a massive occasion in the Aotearoa kids book world – move over Oscars, out of the way Silver Scrolls. This is our night. This year there is intense…

LONG LIVE AOTEAROA’S CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The Sapling is dead, long live The Sapling. Just kidding. The Sapling is most certainly not dead—but we have run out of puff, and we are taking a break. In case you aren’t subscribed to our email, here’s a bit…

Alan Dingley ON BEING A BOOK AWARDS JUDGE – TWICE

Alan Dingley is a Librarian at Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, former Youth Librarian at Palmerston North City Library’s Youth Space, a presenter of talks and workshops on children’s literature and readers advisory, an award-winning theatre sports extraordinaire, and a…