Of the hundreds of children’s books featuring our national bird, here are some all-stars that will help children and adults alike get to know these fascinating creatures better. One of my very favourite books when I was little – I…
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 picture…
Ahead of Father’s Day, four Kiwi Dads let us in on what their family reading lives are like. Here are some excerpts from previous The Sapling articles by music journalist Nick Bollinger; founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and writer…
For the final part of our finalist coverage of this year’s NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, we have quite the treat for you: excerpts of the five Picture Book Award finalists! Here are the first few pages…
Mark Broatch reviews four recent picture books by New Zealand authors and illustrators – Inspector Brunswick: The Case of the Missing Eyebrow about a feline detective and an art gallery, What Are You Supposed to Be? about a weird wolf,…
Marmaduke Duck creator, Juliette MacIver explains how she’s managed to write such a vast number of excellent rhyming picture books, so we all might follow suit.
‘Out of the gate, and off for a walk, went Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy.’ It’s possible that this is the most famous line of any NZ picture book, thanks to Hairy’s superstar status in the UK. Dame Lynley Dodd…