Holding a Mirror to the City: Auckland Council Libraries Publishing Programme
Great libraries work to collect content that reflects the communities they serve. But what if not enough of that content exists? Claudia Palmer speaks with Kate Innes-Monsalve about the impact of Auckland Council Libraries’ publishing programme five years in and…
Review: Mysterious birds, angry roosters and a No
Annelies Judson reviews three new picture books. Alice and the Strange Bird, written and illustrated by Isaac du Toit Isaac du Toit is a talented artist, and illustrated multiple picture books before the age of 20. Last year he won…
Review: Easter, in brief
Harriet Elworthy shares quickfire reviews for two new Easter publications. First, let me admit that I came to these reviews a little begrudgingly as I’m wary of books published around marketable events in the calendar. There’s nothing inherently wrong with…
Review: books for little ones
Nida Fiazi reviews four board books, with advice from her son. Good Night Belly Button by Lucie Brunellière Gecko Press has slowly been taking over my baby’s library and for good reason. Good Night Belly Button by Lucie Brunellière is…
The 2025 Storylines Margaret Mahy National Awards Day
Annelies Judson attended the Storylines Awards Day and shares her reflections on the event. It is 10.45 am on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I am at the National Library in Tāmaki Makaurau. In the entrance area, people are given a…
Regular Features
Features
The 2025 Storylines Margaret Mahy National Awards Day
Annelies Judson attended the Storylines Awards Day and shares her reflections on the event. It is 10.45 am on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I am at the National Library in Tāmaki Makaurau. In the entrance area, people are given a...
School Librarians of Aotearoa: make it work for you and your students will follow
Sarah Elton tells us about her journey to becoming the librarian at Bellevue School, the joy of reading aloud, and how to encourage creativity and enthusiasm when it comes to reading and creating a safe space for kids to be...
Love Letter to a library: the Bookbus
Claudia Palmer encounters Dunedin City Libraries’ mobile library service, the bookbus, and learns about its legacy across the city. After 75 years, this unique service has become much more than just a place to borrow books. It’s Wednesday, 9.38 am,...
Book List: Manga and Disability
Bee Trudgeon shares a list of manga featuring characters with disabilities. Over the past decade, Japan has made strong progress affirming the rights of people with disabilities, working towards removing the physical and social barriers that have stymied their interactions...
From the Shop Floor: My Little Library
Saadiyah Musa introduces us to My Little Library, the first Islamic children’s book and lifestyle store in New Zealand. The idea for My Little Library was born in 2020, shortly after the birth of our daughter, during the height of...
The end of the University of Otago Children’s Writer Residency?
The University of Otago has announced that the future of the Children’s Writer Residency is uncertain, following a funding cut. Ella West looks at the significance of the residency. This year’s Children’s Writer resident, Samantha Montgomerie from Dunedin, could be...
The NZ Booklovers Awards
The winners of the NZ Booklovers Awards will be announced at the end of the week. Before we find out who takes out the picture book, junior fiction and young adult prizes, we spoke with the Booklovers team to find...
Book List: Manga for teens
Bee Trudgeon provides an introduction to manga, for grown ups who may be trying to keep up with the kids. Japan has had a failsafe way to attract teens to books for decades, but in Aotearoa the magnetic wonder of...
Writing hope for teens
Kiri Lightfoot, author of the young adult novel Bear, on how writing a book for teens reminded her how tricky the transition to adulthood can be. I spent nearly a decade writing a novel for young adults. Yes, it took...
An Auckland Libraries Quest: visiting all 56 Tāmaki Makaurau libraries
Hannah Bennett shares her family’s insights into the libraries of Auckland after their epic quest to visit all of them in 2024 It began, as many good conversations do, on a long family car trip. ‘I wonder what we’ll do...
The Kiwi Kids Book Chat Podcast
Librarians Penny Walch and Julie Huggins have been sharing their enthusiasm for Aotearoa’s children’s books in podcast form since 2021. Here, Penny takes us through the highs and lows of podcasting. What do two librarians with verbal diarrhoea who are...
Unlocking the power of National Library
National Library staffers Crissi Blair and Tracey Greenwood share ways National Library Services to Schools can support school communities. Building a thriving reading culture As literacy shapes futures and stories cultivate empathy, fostering a culture of reading in schools has...
The Sapling’s best reads of 2024
We asked The Sapling’s editors and contributors for their best reads of the year. The criteria was broad: recent books preferred but not strictly enforced, titles from Aotearoa or overseas and books for babies to young adults. Here’s what we...
Children’s Book Trends: Are We Following Them?
Maureen Crisp charts children’s publishing trends from the USA, the UK and Australia to see which have made their way here and what is in store for 2025. I made the mistake of looking at a big chain bookstore to...
A summer reading challenge for teachers
Each year, Read New Zealand Te Pou Muramura issues a reading challenge for the summer holidays. This year and last, the wero is aimed at teachers. We chatted with Sarah Dillon, Te Pou Muramura’s Communications and Engagement Manager, to find...
Interviews
Holding a Mirror to the City: Auckland Council Libraries Publishing Programme
Great libraries work to collect content that reflects the communities they serve. But what if not enough of that content exists? Claudia Palmer speaks with Kate Innes-Monsalve about the impact of Auckland Council Libraries’ publishing programme five years in and...
From school gate to three-book deal: an interview with Erica Harrison and Hannah Tunnicliffe
Erica Harrison and Hannah Tunnicliffe met at the school gate, and discovered a shared passion for children’s books. They chat with Annelies Judson about their new collaboration, Detective Stanley and the Mystery at the Museum. I meet Erica Harrison and...
Writing books where all kinds of kids can see themselves: An interview with Rachael King
Musician Kiki Van Newtown talks with writer and former musician Rachael King about playing in bands, opportunities for girls in the music scene and her new book, Violet and the Velvets: the Case of the Missing Stuff. When Rachael King...
Getting it right matters: an interview with Sarah Wilkins
Katherine Hurst chats with Sarah Wilkins about her new book, Diary of a Marine Biologist, scientific curiosity, AI and sea anemones. Katherine Hurst: Can you tell me a little about your background? How did you get into illustrating? Sarah Wilkins:...
Making reading cool: 30 years of the Duffy Books in Homes programme
As the name suggests, Duffy Books in Homes distributes free books to almost one hundred thousand children each year. The charitable foundation has been doing it for thirty years —with impressive statistics to match— in a bid to instill a...
Once Te Awhi Rito, always Te Awhi Rito: An interview with Alan Dingley
Elizabeth Heritage speaks with Alan Dingley about his role as Te Awhi Rito New Zealand Reading Ambassador. When I first meet Alan Dingley, he apologises for the wodge of tissue shoved up his nose. He’d just come from playing basketball...
Clapping and believing: an interview with Elena de Roo
Annelies Judson speaks with Elena de Roo about children’s poetry, getting published and the camaraderie of the children’s literature community In my mind, Elena de Roo is almost a mythical mother figure, with her gentle voice and generous nature. Her...
Across the Ditch: Inda Ahmad Zahri
Australian author Inda Ahmad Zahri finds a moment between writing, illustrating, being a doctor, campaigning for social justice and parenting to answer some questions about what inspires her diverse work and just where she finds the time. Nida Fiazi (NF):...
Book People: Joy Sellen, Ace Administrator
In the first of an occasional series on the people ‘behind the scenes’ of the Aotearoa children’s lit scene, Jane Arthur speaks with Joy Sellen. Joy is the administrator of the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and...
Monsters and Chaos Walking – thirty minutes with Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness, the revered author of the Chaos Walking trilogy, visited New Zealand last week for events at Verb Wellington and Auckland Writers Festival. Sarah Forster watched his Wellington events and spent thirty minutes having him sign her sizable collection...
Interview: Nicola Daly on Indigenous Worldviews in Picture Books
Nicola Daly is what you’d call a children’s book buff. Officially a sociolinguist and senior lecturer at University of Waikato, she has committed her academic career to children’s literature and language learning. Her latest research looks at how Indigenous voices...
Interview: Ned Wenlock on his best first book award winning ‘Tsunami’
Eddie Monotone sits down with Ned Wenlock to talk about winning the NZSA Best First Book Award at the NZCYA Book Awards, his approach to visual storytelling, and how Tsunami marks a departure from his previous work. Eddie Monotone (EM):...
Interview: Steve Mushin on Ultrawild
Steve Mushin with his book, Ultrawild, was the winner of the best children’s non-fiction book at the NZCYA Awards in August. Ultrawild is an entertaining thought experiment around the concept of rewilding to save the planet. Linda Jane Keegan reviewed...
Interview: Dame Lisa Carrington and Scott Pearson
Award-winning author Maria Gill interviews Olympian Lisa Carrington and illustrator Scott Pearson about their new books Lisa Carrington Chases a Champion and Ko Lisa Carrington me te Toa Whakaihuwaka. I last interviewed Lisa Carrington for a children’s nonfiction book called...
Interview: Elizabeth Gray on the Whakapapa of Sound
A dream to hear the sound of taonga pūoro and te reo Māori normalised in households set Elizabeth Gray on a path to becoming a debut author. Elizabeth Gray (Ngāti Rēhia, Ngāti Uepōhatu, Tama Ūpoko ki te awa o Wanganui,...
Reviews
Review: Mysterious birds, angry roosters and a No
Annelies Judson reviews three new picture books. Alice and the Strange Bird, written and illustrated by Isaac du Toit Isaac du Toit is a talented artist, and illustrated multiple picture books before the age of 20. Last year he won...
Review: Easter, in brief
Harriet Elworthy shares quickfire reviews for two new Easter publications. First, let me admit that I came to these reviews a little begrudgingly as I’m wary of books published around marketable events in the calendar. There’s nothing inherently wrong with...
Review: books for little ones
Nida Fiazi reviews four board books, with advice from her son. Good Night Belly Button by Lucie Brunellière Gecko Press has slowly been taking over my baby’s library and for good reason. Good Night Belly Button by Lucie Brunellière is...
Review: New Books for Inspiring Story Appreciation
Belinda Whyte reviews two new collections for children and educators. Get Out! Go Wild! Outdoorsy Stories for Kids, by Marion Day As a literacy teacher in regional New Zealand, I meet many students who are passionate about hunting, fishing, and...
Review: tractors, scooters, storms and islands
Alex Adank and Becks Popham review four new picture books. The Tractor Has A Wobbly Wheel, by Tim Saunders and Carla Martell A new picture book from Tim Saunders, writer and farmer, and Carla Martell (best known for last year’s...
Review: Three new nonfiction titles
Becks Popham and Claudia Palmer review New Zealand Weather, Hidden Stories of Heroism for a Peaceful Planet and My Sore Throat. I’ll freely admit I had to squash my inner judgemental imp when I received these pukapuka to review. I...
Review: new books for teens
Mele Tonga-Grant reviews two recent YA publications from Aotearoa. The Paradise Generation by Sanna Thompson Set in Te Whanganui-ā-Tara, The Paradise Generation gives us a glimpse of a utopian future, in a place that we understand and can believe to...
Review: Square Me, Round World
Clinical Psychologist Philippa McDowall reviews a collection of stories for neurodivergent children. Square Me, Round World was the best book I read to neurodivergent children last year. Children who communicate differently, and who experience the sensory and social world differently...
Review: Charlie Tangaroa and the God of War
Simie Simpson reviews Charlie Tangaroa and the God of War, Tania Roxborogh’s sequel to the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year winning Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea. I feel like this review could be summed up in...
Review: The Mess of our Lives
Elizabeth Heritage reviews Mary-Anne Scott’s latest novel for teens. We have rats in our house but it’s on purpose, as pets. In The Mess of our Lives, the new YA novel by Mary-anne Scott, there are rats in the house...
Review: Into the Ice
Rebecca Priestley reviews a beautifully illustrated Antarctic miscellany. What’s your South Polar seadog name? I can’t decide whether mine is Phytoplankton Stinker or Aurora Moondog. Or perhaps it’s Snotsicle Albatross? No, I’ve got it—it’s Iceblink Stormcatcher. You can find your...
Reviews: Five fresh picture books
Briar Lawry reviews new books from some of the shining stars of Aotearoa kids lit, and Annelies Judson reviews a collaboration with Cleft New Zealand. The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs, by Anika Moa, illustrated by Rebecca ter...
Review: four recent picture books
Kay Benseman shares insights on picture books featuring library books, giants, new babies and crabs. But Then… The Almost True Story of an Overdue Book, by Swapna Haddow, illustrated by Daron Parton This ‘almost true story’ is hilarious and delightful....
Review: Three new wildlife titles
Annelies Judson reviews three picture books for older readers, and identifies a subgenre in NZ Kids Lit. I recently wrote a review where I talked about ‘Aotearoa Natural Disaster Animal Books’. Another strong subgenre in the Aotearoa children’s literature world...
Reviews: activity books for the holidays
Kay Benseman reviews new Kuwi and Friends titles to keep your kids occupied on your holiday road trips Rapua! I Spy: Kiwi Road Trip Games, by Kat Quin & Pānia Papa Kat Quin has again teamed up with Pānia Papa...
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