Good Books is one of the youngest bookshops in the country, only springing to life this past spring. But they have already developed a passionate following, not least because the staff there are some familiar faces to those in the…
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…
Today is Diwali, the Indian festival of lights! And given that 3.9% of Aotearoa’s population has an Indian background, it seems fitting to share a booklist of children’s books around the festival. This fantastic collection is courtesy of the lovely…
This year’s winner of the Nielsen Bookshop of the Year Award at the NZ Book Industry Awards was Hawke’s Bay’s own Wardini Books – and we’ve persuaded co-owner Louise Ward to give us some of her top picks in a genre….
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…
The rising of Matariki is just around the corner and councils, schools and organisations around the country are celebrating the occasion in all kinds of ways. But if you can’t get out to a Matariki event (whether it’s kapa haka,…
In the last couple of months, we have seen the effects of COVID-19 wreak havoc worldwide. The mental health of both children and adults has been badly affected as we learn to cope with ‘the new normal’. One positive thing…
Carly Thomas spent most of her childhood either reading about horses or riding them. Here, she takes a look at what’s on literary offer for kids that are horse mad. Finding New Zealand books for horse mad kids was not…
Children and young adults in Aotearoa are particularly attuned to natural disasters. In today’s book list, Miriam Hurst delves into disaster literature from here and other shaky, volatile places around our world. Then Snufkin said slowly: “It would be awful…
Verse novels have been around for a number of years now and while they may never flood the market, their appeal is growing and becoming more and more a part of mainstream young adult literature. Desna Wallace introduces us to…