As the next instalment in our coverage of this year’s NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, we asked the five finalists of the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction to interview each other. Here’s Philippa…
Kimberly Andrews is the illustrator of the re-illustrated Joy Cowley picture book, Song of the River (Gecko Press). Here she tells us – in words and pictures – about her daily creative routine, and her container home and studio. My…
ECE teacher Sara Croft reviews three books for younger readers, two that use humour to engage young readers, and a third which is a gentle introduction to longer storytelling. Encyclopedia of Grannies, by Eric Veillé (Gecko Press) Eric Veillé has…
Writer and bookseller Adele Broadbent reviews five New Zealand picture books, including everything from cute creatures to a picture book that tackles PTSD, to a lovely Christmas title. Hollybee Hope wants a Prickly Coat, by Deborah Hinde Deborah Hinde often…
Hardcover non-fiction or poetry can be a great choice of gift for the special or hard-to-buy-for child in your life. Here are three gorgeous, recent international books, all themed around nature. I Am the Seed that Grew the Tree: A…
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 2018’s very best New Zealand factual…
Palmerston North librarian Alan Dingley and his two daughters review five of the freshest New Zealand-published non-fiction titles around, covering everything from food for sailing Englishmen, to some of the biggest questions of the natural world. Food Atlas, by Giulia…
He mātanga reo. He kaiako. He kaituhi. He māmā. Hei tautoko i Te Wiki o te reo Māori 2018 kua whakarae atu tātou ki Te Hiku o te Ika, ki a Tākuta Karena Kelly (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine). I ēnei marama…
Sarah Forster reviews of two new junior fiction titles for kids pitched into that tricky junior / middle fiction reading divide. With child-friendly themes and page-turning storylines, both titles are easy to recommend. Dear Professor Whale, by Megumi Iwasa, Illustrations…
Split consciousness features in very different ways in these two wonderful junior fiction titles for opposite ends of the audience age group. Sarah Forster tells us what she thinks. Between, by Adele Broadbent (OneTree House) Between had me under its…