Picture Books

Quiz: The names of New Zealand book characters

These are some of our best-loved characters from New Zealand Picture Books and Junior Fiction titles. But do you know their names? 1. I am drawn by Philip Webb and named by Diana Neild. My name is P_ _ _…

Book Reviews: Quirky, Cool Picture Books

Volume Books in Nelson have a smartly curated range of children’s books that catch the eye. They chose five of their summer favourites to review for The Sapling. Witchfairy and One House for All are from Book Island, and we…

THE SAMPLING: One House for All & Witchfairy

Book Island began here in New Zealand, but is now based in Bristol in the UK. These two books are focused on how to embrace difference. One House for All explains how three very different friends discover how best to build a house they can all live in.

Book Reviews: Picture Books and Non-Fiction

Esther Kiernan reviews four very different recent releases from Aotearoa, taking in a few centuries, and the breadth of New Zealand and beyond. Mr Gloomingdale’s Christmas, written and illustrated by Andy Conlan Mr Skinny, Mr Greedy, Mr Bump – no,…

Book Quiz: Let’s see what you remember…

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,…

Five of the Best Picture Books Featuring Kiwi

Of the hundreds of children’s books featuring our national bird, here are some all-stars that will help children and adults alike get to know these fascinating creatures better. One of my very favourite books when I was little – I…

Hilarious picture books: The funny pages

There are some hilarious picture books out for the Christmas market this year, so we thought we might give you a chuckle with some of the funny pages. We have spreads of Stink-o-Saurus, by Deano Yipadee and Paul Beavis (Scholastic…

Darryn Joseph: Kaituhi, kaita pikitia, kaiako

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…

Five New Picture Books From Aotearoa

Look at all these new books! Today we review five new picture books and find that, as usual, there’s plenty of top-notch stuff being published in Aotearoa New Zealand for our tamariki. Two or three times on my first reading,…

Robyn Kahukiwa: Artist, Writer, Illustrator

Robyn Kahukiwa is one of the legends of New Zealand Picture Book illustration. She recently published Ngā Atua: Māori Gods (Oratia Books) and The Boy and his Dolphin (Little Island Press). We got Kelly Ana Morey to profile Kahukiwa and…