Picture Books

Book Reviews: New picture books from Aotearoa

It has been a phenomenal year for picture books from Aotearoa! Here’s our last batch of reviews for 2020, courtesy of co-founder and editor Sarah Forster. Check out her fascinating thoughts on five of the latest fantastic titles to grace…

Book List: Detectives, Spies, & other Sneaky Sorts

Picture this. You’re a bookseller, being asked for recommendations for a ten-year-old kid who loves reading but needs something new. You pause in front of the shelf before grabbing three books to suggest – and as you give your spiel…

Great gifts for kids aged 5-7

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays. This week we bring you the coolest books for kids aged roughly 5-7. The midnight adventures of Ruru and Kiwi, by Clare Scott, illustrated…

Perfect gifts for the littlies

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays, and this year we are doing a little differently. If you are signed up to our newsletter, you’ll receive ALL of our recommendations at…

te haerenga o reo pepi – the next chapter

The Reo Pēpi series is one of the real success stories in the Aotearoa world of publishing for littlies. The popularity of these labour-of-love board books can be credited as having a major role in kicking off a new wave…

Book Reviews: Picture Books with heart

Whether you feel small, displaced or concerned about the environment, there are some wonderfully uplifting books coming for October. Traverse the universe and our natural environment with Becky Popham as she reports back on these fabulous picture books. Little Hector…

Book Reviews: New Picture books from Aotearoa

Detective hounds, free-range hens, grumbling toddlers, an ode to bugs and an adventure-filled fairytale. There’s an abundance of love, acceptance, friendship, parties, tantrums and surprises in these new picture books from Aotearoa. Hound the Detective by Kimberly Andrews (Puffin) Hound…

A trio of recent books to help anxious kids

Stories and books can be highly effective tools in helping children identify and manage tricky emotions. Sarah Forster and Nida Fiazi interview author-illustrators Laura Shallcrass, Kieran E. Scott, and Emma Pascoe on the topic of their latest releases: anxiety. Read…

The Reckoning: Who are they written for?

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori continues with this installment of The Reckoning from University of Waikato senior lecturer Nicola Daly, where she explores different approaches to text layout in bilingual picture books! With a growing number of options in…

Book List: Queer kids need books too…

Way back in 2017, Cathy-Ellen Paul did a great list of Queer Books for School Libraries, and we thought it was about time to add to that list! Queer kids need books! And so do we all—books help us empathise…