Summer’s coming, and so are the school holidays. But don’t fret, Carly Thomas has you sorted with this latest batch of picture book reviews, all featuring the beach and seaside activities to do/reminisce about with your little ones! Daisy McCray…
Sapling editor Hannah Marshall tapped into her inner journalist to attend the Featherston Booktown festival earlier this month. Her findings are reported here (spoiler: she loved every minute of it). On any ordinary day, the small southern Wairarapa town of…
Co-founder of The Sapling Jane Arthur has a long-standing interest in educational publishing – so when the opportunity came along to pick the brain of Clean Slate Press’ Frances McBeath, it was the perfect match. Read on to learn more…
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…
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…
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…
Whāngārei specialist children’s librarian Meredith Wightman gives us a peek into her notebook today, and gives us a list of picture books that can help children ponder and process death, dying and grief. Last week I was flicking through my…
Disability consultant, activist and blogger Robyn Hunt suggests 21 books, from picture books to YA, that illuminate experiences of disability. Designing a book list for children and YA on disability is difficult. Such books are not usually at the top…
Author Sue Copsey explores the world of New Zealand Junior Fiction, discovering plenty of titles that are just as good as the internationals. Our bestseller lists for kids’ books can make frustrating reading if you’re a New Zealand children’s author….
Of the hundreds of children’s books featuring our national bird, here are some all-stars that will help children and adults alike get to know these fascinating creatures better. One of my very favourite books when I was little – I…