How many books have you read about Muslims since the Christchurch mosque shootings? How many have you read in your lifetime? In this instalment of The Reckoning, Sapling editor Nida Fiazi argues for more books with Muslim representation, and offers her reckons about how we can achieve this. We are approaching the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed, and I cannot help but notice that yet another year has gone by where Mus

We grew up watching the world end – at least on-screen. Our children are growing up watching it happen in real time. How do we prepare them to inherit a world that's (supposedly) about to end? Today Elizabeth Kirkby-McLeod, an Auckland writer, unpacks climate change literature for children and the responsibilities of those who produce it. In the late 1990s the world was always about to end on screen. An asteroid is coming! Aliens are arriving! A volcano is erupting! But don’t

“The death of YA – it’s a thing believe me. Google it.” It was a fleeting comment at a writer’s festival as we moved between venues and it filled me with dread. It was nothing I didn’t already know from my own experiences as a YA writer. Publishers are reluctant to look at YA, with some completely closing their doors to the genre and others reducing titles on what were already lists that barely covered the calendar year. In past years the industry blame game has put writers f

Love it or hate it, social media is a part of our life. But does an author really need it? Elissa Weismann swore off Facebook and Twitter at the start of this year, and it has given her pause to reflect. She shares her experience with us in this latest instalment of The Reckoning. Image from Pexels I’m a terrible millennial. I carry cash, I stink at selfies, and I’ve never been comfortable on social media. But most authors—even those published by large, traditional houses lik

TUIA250 is the government-funded programme to mark 250 years since Captain James Cook first visited Aotearoa. Tina Ngata asks how parents and teachers can help children engage in 'ethical remembering' of this event. Photograph by Charlie Brewer The 2019 Cook commemorations are New Zealand’s response to the 250th anniversary of the inception of colonisation on this land. Through TUIA250, the New Zealand government has delivered millions of dollars in funding to programmes arou

Joanna Grochowicz's second Antarctica-focused non-fiction book for young people has recently been released, and in this installment of The Reckoning, Joanna gives her take on hero-worship, using the protagonist of her new book – Roald Amundsen – to illustrate her point. Joanna Grochowicz We can be heroes, sang the late, great David Bowie. And we are. Each and every one of us is the hero of our own unique story. But how many of us would describe ourselves as heroic? Would we m

Angela Keoghan kicked off her international children’s book career by visiting Bologna Book Fair in 2015, and she has been going there every year since. She makes the argument for NZ illustrators to go to the other side of the world to see how everyone else is working, in order to create a sustainable career. Let me tell you how I managed to get an international career in illustrating books, by going to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The Italian city of Bologna inspired me

Fantasy and science fiction writer Karen Healey reckons that the national book awards, the NZ Book Awards, are erroneously named. Why not the the New Zealand Adult Literary Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry Awards? For that's what they are, she argues. So. Here’s something I reckon we need to change. The Spinoff recently printed a list of 50 years of book awards in New Zealand, based on the national book awards* and purporting to celebrate the 'rich, fascinating history of New

How many children's books have you read that tell stories of family violence and abuse? Today author, speaker and survivor of family violence, Tim Tipene, argues for more books that show the reality of life for far too many children in Aotearoa and beyond. Content note: this essay contains descriptions of child abuse and family violence. As a child I grew up in two worlds. In the first, I had to deal with the anger and misplaced hurt of the adults in my family. I was beaten a

Babies don't come with manuals, or book lists. Today journalist and broadcaster Guyon Espiner recounts how he and his daughter have discovered zen pandas and Roborovski hamsters along their bilingual reading journey. My reading life with Nico began the day after she was born and would establish something of a pattern for my parenting: curious decisions based on limited information leading to surprising consequences. I knew so little about looking after this little matahīapo t

Should children be exposed to books about slavery, racism and violence? Today Sisilia Eteuati, an Auckland writer, lawyer and mother, gives us her very good reasons for putting serious subject matter on her children’s bookshelves. On the eve of my 39th birthday, I sat outside on a beautiful summer’s evening and watched I Am Not Your Negro. Earlier I had asked my six-year-old who was engrossed in Lego if he wanted to come. A sprawling space city was emerging beneath his patien

How do we raise the profile of New Zealand Children's books? Donovan Bixley has been asking around, and he has an answer ... of sorts. Whenever I’m at a children’s book event the question arises: how do we raise the profile of New Zealand children’s books? It’s one of the reasons this very excellent forum, The Sapling, exists, and I love what The Sapling has achieved so far. But how do we make ourselves noticed in a wider community obsessed with sports and pop culture? I’ve b

When is it okay for creative people to draw on cultural traditions they're not part of? Illustrator, writer and teacher Zak Waipara has some thoughts about cultural appropriation. Will the real Maui please stand up? L to R: Maui from Peter Gossage, How Maui Found his Father and the Magic Jawbone (Auckland: Penguin, 2011); Maui designed by Zak Waipara for Miharo TV series, episode Te Ika a Maui (Tumanako Productions, 2010); Maui from Tim Tipene, Maui: Sun Catcher, illustration

Non-fiction writer Maria Gill ponders the nature of a creative non-fiction story for children and how creative non-fiction stories are categorised. Toroa's Journey, by Maria Gill and Gavin Mouldey, is released this week by Potton & Burton. Abel Tasman: Mapping the Southern Lands, is released on 1 November by Scholastic NZ. Spread from Maria Gill's book Abel Tasman: Mapping the Southern Lands, illustrated by Marco Ivancic (Scholastic NZ) I fell in love with creative non-fictio

In the fourth of our features in celebration of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, award-winning writer Steph Matuku battles clichés, stereotypes, and the voice of the internal critic, as she wonders if her work is 'Māori enough.' Māori writers gather at last year's annual hui organised by Te Hā and Ngā Pou Kaituhi Māori Art Form Committees, with support from Toi Māori Aotearoa and funding from Creative New Zealand. Photograph by Trina Rofe Photography. I’m a writer by trade and by defa