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Book List: NZ-focused young reader novels

Book List: NZ-focused young reader novels

In response to a request The Sapling put out on Twitter, teacher and author Sarina Dickson has compiled this wonderful list of New Zealand titles for those young readers who have finished Harry Potter and are reading above their age level at primary school. Advanced readers, assemble! As a child I loved to read. By the age of eight, I was reading anything I could get my hands on and in desperation had moved onto the books my mother had read. I read all about what Katy did at

Fraser Smith: Hooking Children Into Reading

Fraser Smith: Hooking Children Into Reading

Many of our country's magnificent writers also have different day jobs, and chief among them are the teachers – or in this case, the principal. Fraser Smith, principal of Oturu School and author of Awatea's Treasure (and forthcoming Awatea and the Kawa Gang), provides his take on getting our tamariki reading. I can remember the two people who hooked me into the language of storytelling. One was my father reading to us at night, the other was a teacher. They were both passiona

2017 Christmas Shopping List: Junior Fiction

2017 Christmas Shopping List: Junior Fiction

Do you want to be sure you're getting top-shelf books for your favourite people this Christmas - or on any gift-giving occasion? We are making it easy for you! Here is our selection of the very best New Zealand books of 2017 for readers of junior and middle fiction. Junior Fiction Miniwings series by Sally Sutton Published by Scholastic New Zealand RRP $14.99 This new series from Scholastic hooks into an idea that we're sure most children have had at some point (we know we

The Whakapapa of Awatea's Treasure

The Whakapapa of Awatea's Treasure

School principal Fraser Smith writes about how his debut children's novel Awatea's Treasure went from idea to manuscript to published book. Awatea’s Treasure began on a School Camp, sitting around a fire on round rocks still warm from the sun, with the breaking swell rolling smaller rocks up and down the steep shoreline ten metres away. During a gap between stories, songs and jokes, my class of 30 Year Five students requested a story from me. I played a couple of minor chords