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From the Shop Floor: Paige’s Book Gallery

From the Shop Floor: Paige’s Book Gallery

We are pleased to present a regular series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest booksellers of New Zealand. This month we're featuring the remarkable Paige's Book Gallery in Whanganui. Owner Lesley Stead tells us all about the history of the place and gives us her recommendations for some brilliant current and upcoming reads. Our book business began in 2004, but it was in 2006 we made the decision to step into the world of retail. We began i

The Shop Floor: OPO | Green Dolphin Bookshop

The Shop Floor: OPO | Green Dolphin Bookshop

We are pleased to present a regular series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's Green Dolphin Books, a second-hand bookshop in Auckland with a glorious dedicated children's section. Opo: A Secondhand Bookshop for Young Readers, is the cheeky little cousin to our Green Dolphin Bookshop. The two shops sit side by side in St Kevins Arcade on Auckland's Karangahape Road. We started The Green Dolphin

The Shop Floor: Schrödinger’s Books

The Shop Floor: Schrödinger’s Books

We are pleased to present a regular series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's Schrödinger’s Books, a vibrant new addition to the Wellington region's book scene. Schrödinger’s Books was born out of a conversation between Mary and Nicki (co-owners) outside the Lighthouse cinema in Petone in 2018. At the time it was a throwaway comment, one of those thoughts that might come true in a parallel univ

From the Shop Floor: The Twizel Bookshop

From the Shop Floor: The Twizel Bookshop

We are pleased to present a regular series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's The Twizel Bookshop. The Twizel Bookshop is a very very small (12 square metres) shop in a very small town (Twizel), very far from everything, but very close to the mountains, lakes and glaciers of New Zealand's Southern Alps. We opened in the winter of 2017 and never looked back! We are nestled in the wonderful Hydro

From the Shop Floor: Books for Kids, Hamilton

From the Shop Floor: Books for Kids, Hamilton

We are pleased to present a regular series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's Books for Kids in Hamilton. This delightful little independent children's boutique bookshop humbly began 48 years ago out of one of the first owners, Anne Healey's, home garage. Since then it has had seven 'custodians' and been relocated to several little old shops along Peachgrove Road. It has resided in its present

From the Shop Floor: Marsden Books

From the Shop Floor: Marsden Books

We are pleased to present a regular series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's a shop that was born in the same year as The Sapling's two founding editors: Marsden Books in Karori, Wellington. Marsden Books was first established by Trevor and Maxine Rose in 1981, and has remained at the same site in Karori, Wellington ever since. Roger Holyoake and Patricia Morrison took over in in 1991, and Ann

From the Shop Floor: McLeods, Rotorua

From the Shop Floor: McLeods, Rotorua

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's McLeods Booksellers of Rotorua, a shop that has existed in various forms since 1896! McLeods Booksellers is an independent, family-owned business that was formerly A.T. Coates Ltd, which opened in 1896 when Rotorua only had around 500 people. In 1943, Arthur Coates sold the shop to Ken McLeod and the shop was

From the Shop Floor: Little Unity, Auckland

From the Shop Floor: Little Unity, Auckland

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's a newborn on the block: Little Unity, a just-for-kids spin-off of the beloved High Street icon, Unity Books in Auckland. Little Unity opened on 1st September, 2018 as a result of the children’s section growing up and out and finally too big for its little back corner of Unity Books on Auckland’s High Street. T

From the Shop Floor: VOLUME, Nelson

From the Shop Floor: VOLUME, Nelson

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's a relative newcomer, Nelson's très chic VOLUME, which won the coveted title of Nielsen NZ Bookshop of the Year 2018 at the NZ Book Industry Awards (at the same time we, The Sapling, won the Special Industry Award). Winners! Photo by Amy Shattock VOLUME in Nelson was opened in November 2016 and is co-owned by T

From the Shop Floor: Time Out Bookstore

From the Shop Floor: Time Out Bookstore

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's the multi-award-winning Time Out Bookstore in Mt Eden Village, Auckland. 'It's not hoarding if it's books!' The Time Out shop front Situated in the heart of Mt Eden Village, Time Out is a bookshop that is a community hub and haven for bibliophiles. It's a tiny shop, but has a wonderful kid’s room curated to th

From the Shop Floor: Scorpio Books

From the Shop Floor: Scorpio Books

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's the ever-resilient Scorpio Books in Christchurch. Two Scorpio staff members, Rachel Eadie and Cassie Welch Dave Cameron, the owner of Scorpio in Christchurch, bought the business in the 1970s. After moving the shop into town, Dave changed the name from Pisces to his own star-sign, Scorpio. Before the earthquak

From the Shop Floor: Unity Wellington

From the Shop Floor: Unity Wellington

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Tilly Lloyd of the famous Unity Books in Wellington shares some of their capital goings-on. Photos by John Duke. Alan Preston (1934-2004) was a sportsman with a history degree and a penchant for books and deep dialogue. He opened Unity Books in Wellington 50 years ago. On its first day the till tape said only $19.70,

From the Shop Floor: Wardini Books

From the Shop Floor: Wardini Books

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's relative newcomer, the vibrant Wardini Books in Havelock North. About five years ago, Gareth Ward walked past Janeff Books in Havelock North and saw that it was up for sale. Almost on a whim, but with much excitement and a bag of mad ideas, he and his wife, Louise, bought it. They then poured heart, soul and '

From the Shop Floor: Dorothy Butler's

From the Shop Floor: Dorothy Butler's

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's Auckland's iconic The Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop. The Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop has a long history. It was started in the Sixties in Dorothy Butler’s living room. She was an expert in children’s literature and reading and wrote many children’s books herself (as well as bringing up eight childr

From the Shop Floor: Children's Room Otago

From the Shop Floor: Children's Room Otago

We are pleased to present a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. Here's The Children's Room at the University Book Shop in Dunedin. A customer checks out the NZ picture book selection The Children’s Room came about after the crawling eight-month-old son of manager, Phillippa Duffy, almost tripped up an 80-year-old emeritus professor in the middle of the shop. The baby looked up an

From the Shop Floor: Children's Bookshop

From the Shop Floor: Children's Bookshop

We are pleased to present the first in a regular monthly series highlighting the work, expertise and enthusiasm of some of the greatest children's booksellers of New Zealand. To start things with style, we have The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington. The shop front The Children’s Bookshop began when John McIntyre had a kidney transplant in January 1992 and decided to do something creative with this new lease of life. He had toyed with the idea of a bookshop for a fe

Dear John: Gender identity and stopping boredom

Dear John: Gender identity and stopping boredom

John McIntyre from The Children’s Bookshop in Wellington is a top children’s bookseller. He's here once a month to answer your child-related reading questions. Stock image (Pixabay) Dear John, My 11-year-old has just come out as a trans girl. I'd love to buy her some novels to help her feel more comfortable and help celebrate her true identity. What are some books that deal directly and indirectly with gender identity? (She's completely disinterested in everything to do with

DEAR JOHN: TRAINS, TOUGH GIRLS & KILLING JOY

DEAR JOHN: TRAINS, TOUGH GIRLS & KILLING JOY

John McIntyre from The Children’s Bookshop in Wellington is a top children’s bookseller. He's here once a month to answer your child-related reading questions. Stock image (Pixabay) Dear John, My four-year-old son is obsessed with trains, and if I have to read another Thomas the Tank Engine book I’ll explode. We have all of the Usborne books too, and I’m running out of steam. His other reading interests include Shirley Hughes’ cozy home stories – anything directly relatable t

FUTURE WORLDS: GROWING UP IN A BOOKSHOP

FUTURE WORLDS: GROWING UP IN A BOOKSHOP

Multi award-winning US slam poet Anis Mojgani writes about the things which captivate us as children, the magic and promise books hold, and how it is to grow up in a New Orleans children's bookshop. Anis Mojgani The pages of my childhood turned while turning the pages of children’s books inside a store that sold them. To grow up in a children’s bookshop, what is it like? Here. The light falling through the arms of the birch and oak trees of Lowerline Street. The afterschool w

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