Beloved writer James Norcliffe is the well-deserving winner of the 2023 Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal. Ruth Agnew, with the help of students Wills and Rose, shows us the power of Norcliffe’s writing to dazzle and inspire the next generation of…
James Norcliffe and Bernard Beckett are both—among other things—heavy hitters in the chapter book space, telling stories that are thought-provoking, engaging and eminently compelling to read. So with both these chaps releasing new junior fiction titles this September, we thought…
In response to a request The Sapling put out on Twitter, teacher and author Sarina Dickson has compiled this wonderful list of New Zealand titles for those young readers who have finished Harry Potter and are reading above their age…
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 the very best New Zealand books…
Incredible poet and children’s fiction writer James Norcliffe reviews two books by Gecko Press, translated from the Swedish. Soda Pop is a Swedish classic, first published in Swedish in 1970, and took Norcliffe back to his days listening to The…
We wanted to celebrate NZ Poetry Day this year with a fabulous list of children’s poetry. And who better to bring this to you than our very own Paula Green, creator of Poetry Box and NZ Poetry Shelf, and wonderful…
Poet and children’s writer James Norcliffe is a national treasure. He has been involved in the School for Young Writers in Christchurch for many years, and releases both poetry and junior fiction books regularly. Sarah Forster reviews his latest novel…
An excerpt from James Norcliffe’s Twice Upon a Time, a Junior Fiction novel about Ginny’s search for her Pop. It is full of quirky, inventive characters, chief among them Digger Dagger, whom Ginny encounters for the second time below.