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

One of the biggest-selling and most-loved children's picture books in New Zealand is undoubtedly My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes by Eve Sutton and Lynley Dodd. Sarah Lin Wilson looked into the story behind the story. There were two things I liked to do at playschool, according to my parents. The first was to bolt inside, strip off, and climb into the dress-up box. And the second was repeatedly attempting to steal the centre’s copy of Eve Sutton and Lynley Dodd’s cult classic, M

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)

Founding Sapling editor, Jane, has been away from The Sapling for the past three months due to having a baby, Pete. Here she offers ten thoughts about books and reading in relation to hanging out with a new human every day. Jane and Pete-the-newborn. Photo by Daisy Day. 1. When you’re holding a very new baby and only have, maximum, one free hand, it is far easier to turn board-book pages than paper pages. 2. Children’s books give caregivers something to say so we don’t have t

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