Penguin Random House NZ

Book Reviews: Five Great Non-Fiction Books

Palmerston North librarian Alan Dingley and his two daughters review five of the freshest New Zealand-published non-fiction titles around, covering everything from food for sailing Englishmen, to some of the biggest questions of the natural world. Food Atlas, by Giulia…

Behind the Scenes of Puffin the Architect

Kimberly Andrews is the Wellington-based author and illustrator of the new, critically acclaimed picture book, Puffin the Architect (Penguin Random House). We are honoured to present this exclusive behind-the-scenes comic-strip look at how the book came to be.

Illustrators Robyn Belton and Jenny Cooper Talk

We present an interview between Robyn Belton and Jenny Cooper, on the subject of illustrating war stories, technology, (or the lack of it) and the misbehaviour of watercolour. Based loosely on their recently published World War I books: The ANZAC…

And the winners of the Book Awards are …

Freshly announced at the Awards Ceremony in Wellington, the winners of the 2018 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are … The Margaret Mahy Book of the Year and the Elsie Locke Award for Non-fiction Aotearoa: the new…

Book Awards: Best First Book Authors Tell All!

How does an author not only get their book published, but get their book shortlisted for the Best First Book award? We asked each of this year’s finalists how they went from unpublished amateur to finalist. Eileen Merriman, finalist for…

Book List: Picture Books about Death and Grief

Whāngārei specialist children’s librarian Meredith Wightman gives us a peek into her notebook today, and gives us a list of picture books that can help children ponder and process death, dying and grief. Last week I was flicking through my…

Book Reviews: Four Brand new Picture Books

This month’s batch of picture books has a lot of beauty, and a lot of adventure. Rachel Moore tells us about them. Oh, So Many Kisses! by Maura Finn and Jenny Cooper Oh, So Many Kisses! is a hug in…

Review: Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women

You will have seen our Sampling, you have seen why it needed to be written. Now, here’s the verdict on Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women. Is it everything it promises to be? Emily Writes is here to…

THE SAMPLING: Go Girl!

Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women by Barbara Else is a collection of inspiring true stories about New Zealand women who have done extraordinary things. There’s Dame Whina Cooper, Janet Frame, Farah Palmer, Lucy Lawless, Kate Sheppard, Nancy Wake, Sophie Pascoe, Margaret Mahy, Lydia Ko, Merata Mita, Rita Angus, Te Puea Herangi — and many more.

Why Go Girl needed to be written

New Zealand’s answer to Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls is in bookshops now. It’s called Go Girl: A Storybook of Epic NZ Women (Penguin Random House NZ), and it’s written by the multi-award-winning Barbara Else. We asked Barbara to tell…