The Sapling's own co-editor Thalia Kehoe Rowden has just had her first picture book published by Scholastic – Rugby 1 2 3 / Whutupōro Tahi Rua Toru, a rollicking rhyming and counting tale set in and around a classic kiwi rugby match. Thalia shares with us the journey she took to get from kernel of an idea to a glorious real book, on shelves everywhere! First: the why I grew up in a quoting family, where there was a song lyric or book quote for every occasion. It was only in m

Here's the latest in exciting new picture books here in Aotearoa, reviewed by Nida Fiazi – including the debut picture book from The Sapling's very own co-editor Thalia Kehoe Rowden. There's tries to score, oceans to clean up, voices to find and scary poems to read with your very best spooky voice! Rugby 123 / Whutupōro Tahi Rua Toru by Thalia Kehoe Rowden, illustrated by Myles Lawford, translated by Ngaere Roberts (Scholastic) I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw this

The Sapling launched exactly one year ago today. Happy first birthday to us! From founding editors Jane Arthur and Sarah Forster, and editor Thalia Kehoe Rowden: thanks to Helena Loy for helping load many of the pieces, Tabitha of LightShade Creative for designing the logo and website, funders Creative New Zealand and Copyright Licensing NZ, and our Boosted supporters. And thanks to you for reading! Here's a personal selection by the editors of some of our favourite pieces so