Linda Jane Keegan

Reviews: How do I Colour Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

Linda Jane Keegan reviews a stack of books themed around learning numbers, colours, days of the week and Pacific languages. A delightful and colourful collection for anyone with little (and not-so-little!) ones in their lives. My Pasifika Language Series (Mila’s…

Reviews: Two Captivating STEM Books

Linda Jane Keegan reviews two books that are rooted in nature connectivity. Ultrawild is a thought experiment encompassing environmental science, engineering, and outrageous ideas for how to save the planet, and The Beach Activity Book is an assortment of water-themed…

Book List: Inspiration for Bug of the Year

This is the second year of New Zealand Bug of the Year. Step aside, Bird of the Year, the Entomological Society of New Zealand is keen to get our nation more interested in the lesser known heroes of our environment….

Reviews: Four New Rhyming Christmas Books

Christmas books go out from the library at any of time of the year (well at least they do in Tākaka), but obviously Christmas time is the best time for diving into these festive reads. Linda Jane Keegan reviews the…

List: Aotearoa Activity Books

Summer is upon us and school holidays are imminent. Linda Jane Keegan has compiled a list of some of the best Aotearoa-flavoured activity books to help keep you and your tamariki occupied. They can be puzzled and artsy in the…

The Reckoning: On Reviewing

The Sapling loves Aotearoa’s thriving children’s book industry. We also believe that a robust reviewing culture can allow it to grow and blossom even further, by providing opportunity for reflection and improvement. Editor Linda Jane Keegan writes about The Sapling’s approach to…

Reviews: Six Non-Fiction Nature Books

Sapling editor and self-confessed nature nerd, Linda Jane Keegan, reviews an amazing selection of books about the world around us. Look up close at tiny creatures from land to sea, to far, far away into the night sky. These would…

Q&A: Linda Tuhiwai Smith on the Whatumanawa Collection

Linda Tuhiwai Smith is renowned in her field – indigenous education – and now has authored a series of picture books dealing with social issues, the Whatumanawa collection, available in both te reo Māori and reo Pākehā. They are serious,…

Reviews: Six New Zealand Non-Fiction

Here is a great bundle of Aotearoa non-fiction, all covering our natural world. We’ve got photographic pukapuka, creative non-fiction, rhyme, and bucketloads of facts. Editor Linda Jane Keegan gives her two cents on these titles. Family of Forest and Fungi…

Reading with Covid: An Acrostic in Isolation

Editor Linda Jane Keegan and her whānau are struck down with Covid. Reading never stop in this household though, and Linda Jane shares how her seven-year-old (couch-ridden for two days and now bouncing off the walls) keeps up with the…