The Reckoning

The Reckoning: Why Don’t We Care About NZ Books?

A fleeting comment on Radio NZ about books set in Aotearoa made student and book reviewer Hannah Marshall uneasy. She sets out on a quest to figure out why it is that we don’t want to set our books here,…

The Reckoning: Kids and the Classics – A Lost Cause?

Should children be persuaded to read critically-acclaimed and classic books? Today Steph Matuku, an award-winning writer and mother from Taranaki, puts up her case for convincing kids to broaden their literary horizons, and shares how she’s tackling the challenge of…

The Reckoning: Fighting reluctance with humour

Chances are if you’ve had a young reader in your life in the past decade or so, you’ll have a Dawn McMillan book or two somewhere on your bookshelves. Does I Need A New Bum! ring any bells? Or perhaps…

The Reckoning: Who are they written for?

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori continues with this installment of The Reckoning from University of Waikato senior lecturer Nicola Daly, where she explores different approaches to text layout in bilingual picture books! With a growing number of options in…

The Reckoning: Teaching Stories From This Land And Beyond

Here’s a new instalment of The Reckoning from writer and teacher Tania Roxborogh. She considers the use of Māori in classrooms and stories from here in Aotearoa and beyond – and she discusses her new book Charlie Tangaroa and the…

Ngā Pakiwaitara o tēnei Whenua me Taitua

Nā Tania Roxborogh tēnei arokatenga i tuhi. Hei tāna, te whakamahi o te reo Māori ki roto o ngā akomanga me ngā pakiwaitara o Aotearoa me taitua, ā, e matapakia ana tōna pukapuka Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature From the…

The Reckoning: David Hill on ‘Gentle Readers’

We’re always interested to see what David Hill has to say – whether it’s his novels, his picture books, or his reviews. In this latest instalment of The Reckoning, David talks through his experience of the struggle to please everyone……

Accidental Writing 101: Teine Sāmoa

Dahlia Malaeulu found herself writing every day in lockdown, drafting 12 stories in seven days before realising what we all now know: it’s a book! We published a sampling of Teine Sāmoa yesterday: today, we present a personal essay from…

The Reckoning: Are we really one?

How many books have you read about Muslims since the Christchurch mosque shootings? How many have you read in your lifetime? In this instalment of The Reckoning, Sapling editor Nida Fiazi argues for more books with Muslim representation, and offers…