For the second instalment of our shiny new Mahy Questionnaire, we thought we had better select an author who we knew would construct some brilliant answers. So we went to none other than famed Roadworks author Sally Sutton. Sally’s latest…
The Sapling had been thinking for some time about how best to honour the late, great Margaret Mahy. Suddenly it hit us: A Questionnaire, along the lines of the NZ Book Council’s Mansfield Questionnaire, and the Proust Questionnaire. So we…
Hearing the wonderful news that six more towns are going to be Refugee Resettlement centres, we got thinking about what books might provide the best and friendliest introduction to a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here’s our starting list…
Over Summer, my nephews and I read some recently published te reo Māori and bilingual children’s books. Nō Tauranga Moana rāua, Te Kaponga and Mangō-Ururoa are almost 10 and 7 years old respectively and te reo Māori is their first…
The images and the story of Margaret Mahy’s “A Lion in the Meadow” have almost become a part of the collective consciousness of children who grow up in Aotearoa. This year, the Māori language translation of the book: “He Raiona…
Ko ngā pikitia me ngā kōrero o Lion in the Meadow nā Margaret Mahy, he mea tuhi ki te rae o te tamaiti i tipu ake i Aotearoa nei. I tēnei tau, i puta mai ki te ao He Raiona…
Amy Austin, Deputy Principal and PhD student, asks ‘Can children do philosophy?’; ‘What does it entail and who benefits?’; ‘What stimulates philosophical thinking?’ For many, the picture that first comes to mind of a philosopher could be that of an…
Janice Marriott has written fiction and non-fiction for children and adults; she is an editor, audio producer, screenwriter, poet, mentor, manuscript assessor, teacher and gardener. She is also the 2018 recipient of the Margaret Mahy Medal, giving her lecture in…
Margaret Mahy’s The Christmas Tree Tangle was originally published in 1994, and a newly illustrated edition was released by Puffin in November 2017. We asked illustrator Sarah Davis to talk about the process of re-illustrating an existing book, to which…
Founding Sapling editor, Jane, has been away from The Sapling for the past three months due to having a baby, Pete. Here she offers ten thoughts about books and reading in relation to hanging out with a new human every…