The Sapling
@thesaplingnz
Website dedicated to celebrating Aotearoa-New Zealand literature for children and young adults. With editors Harriet, Faith & Nida. Pitches welcome!
'If I don’t draw, who even am I?' Lily Uivel on new parenthood, illustration and her new book BIG BANG BREAD: www.thesapling.co.nz/if-i-dont-dr... #pukapuka #booksky #illustration #bread #sciencecommunication
'When we see ourselves represented, it gives us permission to be more of who we really are.' Trish Harris has just launched OUT OF THE BOX, which shares the stories of 25 Deaf and disabled New Zealanders: www.thesapling.co.nz/who-we-reall... #pukapuka #booksky #disabilityrepresentation #kidlit
Translation is a fine and mysterious art, so we asked the translators and writers in the @nzcyabookawards.bsky.social Te Kura Pounamu Awards what they'd most like to know about each other's work: www.thesapling.co.nz/nzcya-2026-w... #pukapuka #booksky #tereoMāori #translation #kidlit
Featuring @rachaelking70.bsky.social, @gracikim.bsky.social, Eileen Merriman, Mila's Books, NZSLA, ASLA!
Kid lit books ask the essential question of fiction, which is: ‘what if?’, and then answers it with: ‘why not?’" @jaxies.bsky.social tells us about Marginalia Lit Fest Live, and why we should all be reading kid lit: tinyurl.com/3wx9mj9r #booksky #pukapuka #kidlit #childrensbooks #literaryfestival
Review! A propulsive and action packed new middle grade novel by @gracikim.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/5f84eprw
While the finalists in the NZCYA NZSA Best First Book Award may be new names to readers, there's more to them than overnight success. We asked them about their paths to publication: www.thesapling.co.nz/nzcya-2026-t... #booksky #kidlit #newauthor #nzcya #pukapuka
Each of the nine visible stars in the Matariki cluster has its own unique characteristics. Here is a list of book recommendations for exploring the significance of each star wtith tamariki: www.thesapling.co.nz/a-new-matari... #booksky #Matariki #Aotearoakidlit #booklist
'An achievable read such as these are a great entry point for readers who aren’t quite ready for something meatier ... the books hold enough wit for adults to genuinely enjoy during shared reading time.' Belinda Whyte reviews books two and three in the TERRIBLE TRIO series: tinyurl.com/SaplingNZ
Take a peek into the sketchbooks of the finalists in the @nzcyabookawards.bsky.social Illustration Award! www.thesapling.co.nz/nzcya-2026-t... #booksky #illustration #childrensbooks #comics #pukapuka
'This book will likely be treasured' Hamish Win reviews YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MY BABY by Jessica Urlich and Jeda Robaard: www.thesapling.co.nz/review-all-t...
We Waited for You: Bee Trudgeon recommends books for explaining IVF conception to children www.thesapling.co.nz/book-list-we... #pukapuka #booksky #IVF #wheredobabiescomefrom
'What a fantastic book. We haven’t been able to stop reading it.' Hamish Win reviews Sand-Play Time on the Sun-Baked Beach by @juliettemaciver.bsky.social and Lily Uivel: www.thesapling.co.nz/review-all-t...
There's a particular magic that occurs between text and image in a great picture book ... We asked the finalists in the @nzcyabookawards.bsky.social Bookhub Picture Book Award how that magic happened: www.thesapling.co.nz/nzcya-2026-o...
'This is a welcome addition in the YA fiction space, a genre that has become soaked in sex and romance' Sarah Forster reviews Philippa Werry's new novel, Degrees of Happy: www.thesapling.co.nz/review-two-n...
June's a busy month for Shelley Burne-Field: Ana & Frog Search for the Missing Horse has just been released and Kimi the Kekeno’s Big Adventure has been shortlisted for the NZCYA awards. Lucky for us, she found time to answer the Mahy Questionnaire: tinyurl.com/TheSapling
@exocomics.com shares an EXTREMELY CUTE and DELIGHTFUL day in her life: www.thesapling.co.nz/a-day-in-the...
Review! James Russell has a brand new junior fiction novel out: www.thesapling.co.nz/review-a-fan...
Which gender dominates the shortlists? How much prize money is up for grabs? Are independent publishers keeping up with the big firms? We ran the numbers on the shortlists for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: shorturl.at/9iWlh
Long weekend reading! Tauanu’u Perenise Tapu Sitagata shares how he's sharing Samoan culture and language with children through picture books: www.thesapling.co.nz/the-signific...
Kenneth Chapman's LONASEI AND THE MYSTERY OF ORIGIN GROVE was the second-best selling kids title at Auckland Writers Festival. Not bad for a debut novel! To get to know him, we asked him to answer the Mahy Questionnaire: www.thesapling.co.nz/the-mahy-que...
Here's a lovely good news story! The opening of a brand new library at Te Papapa School in Onehunga: www.thesapling.co.nz/gamechanger-...
Harriet Elworthy attended Auckland Writers Festival, and has written about the 'joyful and exhilarating' coverage of kids books there: www.thesapling.co.nz/kids-books-a...
Any Terry Teo fans around here? Legendary comic creator Bob Kerr has shared 'A Day in His Life' on The Sapling: www.thesapling.co.nz/a-day-in-the...
Scarlett Robinson-Kean has recently been awarded an Arts Foundation Springboard Award. Here, in the first of four comics on working with new mentor @giselledraws.bsky.social, she tells us how the award happened: www.thesapling.co.nz/comic-on-win...
We're giving away books! Head to our Facebook page for a chance to win one of two copies of A FLAME IN THE DARK by Maria Gill, with thanks to One Tree House www.facebook.com/share/p/17GQ...
'Of course, even the most enchanting stories have their knotted roots' Pearl D'Silva examines the enduring appeal of Enid Blyton, and how The Magic Faraway Tree can be utilised in classrooms to inspire modern creative thinking skills: www.thesapling.co.nz/why-the-magi...