New Zealand

Reviews: Four New Picture Books

Hope Lenzen reviews four new Aotearoa picture books on a variety of topics. They include a story based on the real life of a suburban sheep, two non-fiction reads to help kids understand big emotions and body safety, and a…

Christmas Reads from The Sapling

We interrupt this hiatus to bring you a list of Top Recommendations for the 2021 Holiday Season, created for you, our dear readers, as well as those of Newsroom’s ReadingRoom. Compiled by Editor Sarah with a bit of help from…

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…

Co-Interview: Saradha Koirala and Gareth Ward

Saradha Koirala and Gareth Ward recently wrote sequels to YA books. While it was Gareth’s second time writing a sequel, it was Saradha’s first, so we thought we’d get them to have a talk about how you know your story…

Day In the Life: DEBORAH HINDE

Deborah Hinde is a Aotearoa illustrator, and her most recent title is Enough: A story about community. She spends her days running her business, PictureBook Publishing, as well as illustrating picture books and working on products for markets. She tells…

Resilience, Whānau, and the Power of Traditions

The work of some of our most prolific writers for children cannot be found in our libraries or bookshops. For Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Kura Rutherford celebrates writer André Ngāpō, whose huge body of work has flown under…

A Reflection on Ben Ngaia’s Ngake Me Whātaitai

Welcome to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori! Here’s our first (reo Pākehā) article for this important week. Zeb Nicklin interviewed Ben Ngaia, the author of Ngake Me Whātaitai. This story is a picture book and a traditional story, all…

I whakaaroarohia te Pukapuka Ngake Me Whātaitai

Nau mai ki Te Wiki o te Reo Māori! Koinei tā mātou pūrongo tuatahi mō tēnei wiki whai tikanga. Nā Zeb Nicklin i patapatai ki Ben Ngaia, te kaituhi a Ngake me Whātaitai. He pukapuka pikitia me pūrākau tēnei kōrero,…

Day In the Life of an Illustrator: Phoebe Morris

Join Phoebe Morris, illustrator of The Adventures of Mittens: Wellington’s Famous Purr-sonality for our Day in the Life feature. Between dodging parking wardens, agonising over crocs or topping up on coffee Phoebe gets down to the business of meeting the…

New picture books from Aotearoa

The Sapling’s Simie Simpson, reviews four new picture books from Aotearoa that feature a dog searching for a forever home, a racing buggy that reaches for the stars, some local gardens, imaginative play and emotions. The Garden’s Secrets by Sarah…