Board books including English and Te Reo Māori for basic concepts are being welcomed with open arms by young families all over New Zealand. Jane Arthur evaluates four, plus a tale with a tough princess at its centre. My Body for Kiwi Babies and Animals for Kiwi Babies, by Matthew and Fraser Williamson (Puffin) This pair of board books are simple and super-chic, with bold colour choices, lots of white space, a big, clear font and illustrations that are part-caricature, part-r

Hearing the wonderful news that six more towns are going to be Refugee Resettlement centres, we got thinking about what books might provide the best and friendliest introduction to a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here's our starting list of picture books for newly arrived former refugees. What favourites would you add? Detail from Kia ora, You can be a Kiwi too, by June Pitman-Hayes, translated by Ngaere Roberts, illlustrated by Minky Stapleton The books that form our chi

What makes a bestselling New Zealand kids book? This list looks at eight of the bestselling kids books and what makes them so popular. Filled with classics and recent gems, everyone should know at least one of the wonderful stories on this list. These are the eight Children's & YA titles in the running for the NZ Bookshop Day Bestseller of the Decade competition. Vote now for your favourite, and let children's books reign supreme! Badjelly the Witch by Spike Milligan (Puffin)

Today our special guest writer is the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, who is also Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. She tells us about her surprising reading journey as a child and teenager. The Prime Minister and her two nieces at Parliament, on the occasion of her swearing-in. My relationship with words started young, and I guess I have my mother to thank for that. To this day, she tells stories of my sister and me as infants, having to put

The twenty-first title in the Hairy Maclary and Friends series is coming out in October 2017, and we thought that this made it the perfect time to get Elizabeth Heritage to have a talk to Lynley Dodd, and many of the other people involved in the phenomenon that is Hairy Maclary. Out of the gate and off for a walk... Page 2, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. Copyright Lynley Dodd. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy was first pub

Ahead of Father's Day, four Kiwi Dads let us in on what their family reading lives are like. Here are some excerpts from previous The Sapling articles by music journalist Nick Bollinger; founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and writer at Crime Watch Craig Sisterson; political cartoonist, comic artist, illustrator, and writer Toby Morris (aka The Pencilsword), and journalist, writer and editor of The Spinoff Books, Steve Braunias. First up is Nick Bollinger, with an account of re

Founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and writer at Crime Watch, Craig Sisterson, shares what he and his two-year-old daughter Madi have been reading lately. Story time is one of my favourite times with Madi, our two-and-a-half year old. 'Again, again, more story Daddy!' I’m the stay-at-home parent, so have to fit in spurts of freelance work among days centred on drawing, Lego building, playing in the backyard, and heading out on adventures to local parks or to catch up with frie