Founding editor Sarah Forster talks all things aeroplanes, albatrosses, creepy dolls and more in Aotearoa’s latest offering of junior fiction annuals. Annual 3, edited by Susan Paris and Kate De Goldi On opening Annual 3, I was impressed by the…
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…
Time for another batch of picture book reviews to keep you abreast of the latest developments in the world of Aotearoa illustrative goodness. Editor Briar has examined new releases from Donovan Bixley, Susan Brocker and Raymond McGrath, Melinda Szymanik and…
It has been a phenomenal year for picture books from Aotearoa! Here’s our last batch of reviews for 2020, courtesy of co-founder and editor Sarah Forster. Check out her fascinating thoughts on five of the latest fantastic titles to grace…
In this wonderful batch of reviews, there are books with two different interpretations of the feats and antics of Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, a bedtime-shirking pīpī kiwi and a blanket filled with memories. Nā Mihi Henare, tētahi kaiāwhina i Te Puna Reo o…
Reviewer and author Melinda Szymanik has reviewed a group of Aotearoa junior and middle fiction, with some highly illustrated titles mixing with some harder-to-read stories for the upper end of the age group. Flying Furballs: Nine Lives written and illustrated…
This month we have a new te reo Māori title reviewer, Mihi Henare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Hine, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), reviewing a new batch of te reo Māori books released during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori in September. Whakarongo ki…
You know it, you love it – it’s the Mahy Questionnaire! This month we are featuring the prolific Donovan Bixley. Bixley, along with Darryn Joseph and Keri Opai was shortlisted for the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for…
It’s the final instalment of our NZCYA finalist coverage for 2019! Our final category is the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for Te Reo Māori. When she’s not busy being a Sapling editor or a bookseller at Little…
Hearing the wonderful news that six more towns are going to be Refugee Resettlement centres, we got thinking about what books might provide the best and friendliest introduction to a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here’s our starting list…