A story about family, loyalty, kindness and bravery, set against an all-too-possible future where climate change has forever changed the way we live. Peony lives with her sister and grandfather on a fruit farm outside the city. In a world where real bees are extinct, the quickest, bravest kids climb the fruit trees and pollinate the flowers by hand. All Peony really wants is to be a bee.
The lovely Mina Cucina is a terrible cook! Unfortunately the Great Bonbon Confectionation, which every person in the town must enter, is coming up, and she doesn’t know what to make. Luckily, her kitchen holds a secret. You know how toys come alive when you aren’t watching? In Mina’s kitchen, it’s the forgotten food from beneath the cooker and fridge.
When we asked if Suzanne Main would write an article about funny books for kids, her reaction was, ‘What do I know about funny books? I just write them!’ Turns out the answer is, quite a bit! I don’t primarily…
Did you see our books of the year?! To help you with your Christmas and end-of-year book shopping, we published our picks of the best YA Books, Factual Books, Junior and Middle Fiction, and Picture Books over the past week,…
Each of these three action-packed books has a great cast of characters, some daredevil heroes and is written for kids aged 7+. Sarah Forster found them to be page-turning fun. Lily Max: Sun, Surf, Sea, by Jane Bloomfield (Luncheon Sausage…
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…
While most of our reviews are of NZ titles, occasionally we check out what is being hyped overseas. Each of these titles are the stars of Christmas for their publishers, and they share similarities in their London-ish setting, and their…
Children’s comics embrace all the possibilities inherent in good fiction. They are original, compelling and relevant, but also of increased importance for reluctant readers, and those who value the written word and illustration. Here, Monty Masseurs and Nicola Crombie from…
Ridiculously prolific pony writers Kelly Wilson and Stacy Gregg each take a very different approach to their work but at the heart, their inspiration is always horses. This double interview sees them discuss their latest books, due out this month….
An excerpt from Suzanne Main’s How Not to Stop a Kidnap Plot, a Junior Fiction novel that tells the tale of how Michael’s desire to get revenge on rich kid bully Angus backfires. Chapter 3 recounts the germination of a plan, and the introduction of the marvellous Miss Munro.