Annelies Judson speaks with Elena de Roo about children’s poetry, getting published and the camaraderie of the children’s literature community In my mind, Elena de Roo is almost a mythical mother figure, with her gentle voice and generous nature. Her…
Transport, friendship, noisy library-users, pizza nights and child-fearing dentists are all covered in this line-up of new Aotearoa picture books. Kay Benseman reviews. Double Dippers (Big Little Blue #3), by Raymond McGrath (Scholastic NZ) This was my first read of a…
Annelies Judson shares her thoughts on four very different—but equally vibrant—picture books to hit the shelves. The Littlest Lifeguard, by Vanessa Hatley-Owen, illustrated by Lisa Allen The Littlest Lifeguard is a lighthearted look at how the smallest of us can…
Kay Morfett reviews two very different, yet equally intriguing, additions to Aotearoa’s junior fiction genre. Tim Tipene’s The Book That Wouldn’t Read is an inspiring tale that centres children who struggle with reading and Sally Sutton brings all the mayhem…
There are all kinds of strong voices in Aotearoa’s picture book world today and some of the best of the best are women. Freelance writer Carly Thomas reviews five New Zealand children’s books that all fit that criteria and finds…
As part of our coverage for the NZ Book Awards, we asked the publishers of the junior fiction finalists what it was about these particular stories that caught their imaginations, and why they seemed right for this format. These are…
Carly Thomas spent most of her childhood either reading about horses or riding them. Here, she takes a look at what’s on literary offer for kids that are horse mad. Finding New Zealand books for horse mad kids was not…
A vast number of households in Aotearoa with a child of 10 or under will be intimately familiar with the engaging, vibrant work of Brian Lovelock. How many times can a three-year-old want to read Roadworks or Construction in a…
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…
Current picture book publishing in New Zealand is a real mixed bag. There are stories that are just familiar songs in disguise matched with illustrations, stories inspired by real events that have captured the public interest and stories about our…