Amy Austin, Deputy Principal and PhD student, asks ‘Can children do philosophy?’; ‘What does it entail and who benefits?’; ‘What stimulates philosophical thinking?’ For many, the picture that first comes to mind of a philosopher could be that of an…
Janice Marriott has written fiction and non-fiction for children and adults; she is an editor, audio producer, screenwriter, poet, mentor, manuscript assessor, teacher and gardener. She is also the 2018 recipient of the Margaret Mahy Medal, giving her lecture in…
Margaret Mahy’s The Christmas Tree Tangle was originally published in 1994, and a newly illustrated edition was released by Puffin in November 2017. We asked illustrator Sarah Davis to talk about the process of re-illustrating an existing book, to which…
Founding Sapling editor, Jane, has been away from The Sapling for the past three months due to having a baby, Pete. Here she offers ten thoughts about books and reading in relation to hanging out with a new human every…
About 12 months ago, Rachel Eadie was asked for permission to film in the bookshop she manages, Scorpio Books in Christchurch, for a very special film: The Changeover. Margaret Mahy was a Christchurch native, and Kate Chant, the mother of…
Jordan Watson is better known – to millions of YouTube viewers – as How to Dad, giving hilarious advice on the practicalities of dad-hood to parents all over the world. Today he tells us about the books that were most…
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…
We wanted to celebrate NZ Poetry Day this year with a fabulous list of children’s poetry. And who better to bring this to you than our very own Paula Green, creator of Poetry Box and NZ Poetry Shelf, and wonderful…
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…
What makes a book last? What makes it win? I try to figure this out, as a judge of the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults this year, revisiting 15 books that won the top awards and have…