Giselle Clarkson

Fantastic gifts for kids aged 8-12

The Sapling is dedicated to bringing you the best books from Aotearoa for gifting this holidays. This week we’ve got some rad recommendations for the 8-12 year olds in your life. The Inkberg Enigma, by Jonathon King (Gecko Press) Miro…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 30

It’s the most wonderful time of the month! Another Giselle Clarkson comic. Today our resident illustrator extraordinaire takes us through her process – and struggles – with visual references. And if you haven’t seen it yet, Giselle’s latest collaboration is…

Talking to the Team Behind Egg & Spoon

It’s October and boy do we have a treat for you! This month, Gecko Press is releasing an absolutely delectable Aotearoa title that will have your mouth watering and tastebuds tingling! Egg & Spoon, by chef and author Alexandra Tylee,…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 29

If you are as committed to children’s books as Giselle and The Sapling team are, no doubt you’ve found yourself pondering many branded purchases linked to your favourite picture book. Nothing made Sarah happier when her kids were little than…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 28

Giselle has visited the theme of anthropomorphism in her comics in the past⁠—remember birds with arms?⁠—but recently she has been pondering the scale of it all. Why is it that sometimes dogs are dogs, and sometimes bears are…well… lets find…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 27

Today is editor Sarah’s birthday, and she’s going to shelter in one of her favourite books. Would you join her in Carrie Hepple’s Garden? Or perhaps up the cherry tree? Or if you are missing your friends, perhaps you’d join…

The Giselle Clarkson Comic: Number 26

Today is apparently the day for romance, and what can be more romantic than working on a picture book together? Giselle Clarkson explores some stories behind the power couples of children’s publishing in her twenty-sixth comic for The Sapling. Happy…

Merry Christmas from Giselle & The Sapling

The editors of The Sapling all love a good kids’ Christmas book. This comic celebrates the books that Briar, Thalia, Kura, and Sarah have enjoyed in the past. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Meri Kihiramete!

Giselle Clarkson & Sarah Laing: A comic interview

We love comics, and we love the artists behind them! So for this month’s Giselle Clarkson comic, we have something a little different for you: an illustrated interview! Sarah Laing – author/artist/designer extraordinaire – has a new book out with…

Book Reviews: Lively New Books for Young Readers

When the review titles arrived this month, my kids called me the Book Queen and hugged the pages to their chests, eyes wide, already imagining what was inside. Book Queen? I said, I am the Queen of all the world…