John O'Reilly

Book Reviews: New Children’s Titles in Te Reo

This month we have a new te reo Māori title reviewer, Mihi Henare (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Hine, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), reviewing a new batch of te reo Māori books released during Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori in September. Whakarongo ki…

2017 Christmas Shopping List: Picture Books

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 picture…

Five New Picture Books From Aotearoa

Look at all these new books! Today we review five new picture books and find that, as usual, there’s plenty of top-notch stuff being published in Aotearoa New Zealand for our tamariki. Two or three times on my first reading,…

Ali Teo and John O’Reilly: The Curious Ar-Chew

Award-winning illustrators Ali Teo and John O’Reilly have been working together for over 15 years, having illustrated many picture books. Their most recent collaboration has been on Sarah Grundy’s debut picture book, The Curious Ar-Chew. The Curious Ar-Chew won the…

Book List: Where to from Hairy Maclary

‘Out of the gate, and off for a walk, went Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy.’ It’s possible that this is the most famous line of any NZ picture book, thanks to Hairy’s superstar status in the UK. Dame Lynley Dodd…