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![Across the Ditch: From the ear to the page](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_b14b941bc8f14585b3acd0fee58741bd~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/09ef90_b14b941bc8f14585b3acd0fee58741bd~mv2.webp)
Across the Ditch: From the ear to the page
The Sapling co-editor Nida Fiazi reviews the first picture book retelling of her favourite childhood folktale Buz-e-Chini. She recalls...
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![My Childhood Books: Catherine Robertson](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_649dc3cc1f8c4378896317f60f8c21f8~mv2_d_3000_1688_s_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_649dc3cc1f8c4378896317f60f8c21f8~mv2_d_3000_1688_s_2.webp)
My Childhood Books: Catherine Robertson
Catherine Robertson reflects on her early years from a literary angle, focusing on the intrinsic connection between her memories of books...
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!['I was running a bit toward the wild'](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_cc589f5f7aca4d908d6f7788c93df080~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_cc589f5f7aca4d908d6f7788c93df080~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
'I was running a bit toward the wild'
'From where I sleep I can see the book on my bookshelf. I have read it so many times it has fallen apart, and now exists as an inelegant...
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![Swapna Haddow: The Books of My Childhood](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_7a1e48c9b02e416e971604a80be554a1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_7a1e48c9b02e416e971604a80be554a1~mv2.webp)
Swapna Haddow: The Books of My Childhood
Author Swapna Haddow has recently moved to Christchurch from her home in the UK. Her Dave Pigeon books are absolutely hilarious, so we...
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![For Crying Out Loud: Crying and Kids' Books](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_930061b6bb2d454eb7423663bfbbf3d8~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_930061b6bb2d454eb7423663bfbbf3d8~mv2.webp)
For Crying Out Loud: Crying and Kids' Books
'I’m a kindred spirit to Anne of Green Gables’ Anne Shirley. When I feel like crying, you see it in my cheeks, in the flicker in my eyes,...
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![In Memoriam: An Elegy for Charlotte](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_feba8c8f83c1424681af55402f458ee2~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_feba8c8f83c1424681af55402f458ee2~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
In Memoriam: An Elegy for Charlotte
What fictional death have you never got over? That's the question asked of our editor Jane Arthur by poet Chris Tse, guest curator of the...
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!['Your taste is why your work disappoints you'](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_a0cd472097cc43fcb1f27a23634bfe17~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_a0cd472097cc43fcb1f27a23634bfe17~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
'Your taste is why your work disappoints you'
Claire Murdoch is the recently appointed Publishing Manager of Penguin Random House New Zealand. We asked her to share some formative...
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![A Wise Place to Rise: National Poetry Day](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_6b784cbf186f413c8f6c3404a9079075~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_6b784cbf186f413c8f6c3404a9079075~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
A Wise Place to Rise: National Poetry Day
'Throughout my life I have turned to the page as a soft place to fall and a wise place to rise.' For Phantom Billstickers National Poetry...
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![Bill Manhire and Blyton’s Faraway Tree](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_73e6cde10e964919af8ebe49898b67ab~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_73e6cde10e964919af8ebe49898b67ab~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
Bill Manhire and Blyton’s Faraway Tree
Multi-accoladed poet and founder of the creative writing programme at Victoria University of Wellington, Bill Manhire relives the magic...
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![From the Lake District to Mangere Island](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_c44b55653ef64afbb9688c606d971db2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_c44b55653ef64afbb9688c606d971db2~mv2.webp)
From the Lake District to Mangere Island
Kura Rutherford ruminates on how powerfully children's books can evoke geographies both unknown and familiar, from Beatrix Potter’s Lake...
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![Kate Duignan: The Books of My Childhood](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_cae8a1d8e54e46568f61ebef5aba5af0~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_cae8a1d8e54e46568f61ebef5aba5af0~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
Kate Duignan: The Books of My Childhood
Kate Duignan recalls two influential books from her childhood, Heidi and The Diddakoi, in this stunning personal essay about the...
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_8a8ac7bf94bd485cb8635b4c5ae97094~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/09ef90_8a8ac7bf94bd485cb8635b4c5ae97094~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
![Emma Neale: The Books My Kids Are Reading](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_8a8ac7bf94bd485cb8635b4c5ae97094~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_8a8ac7bf94bd485cb8635b4c5ae97094~mv2_d_6250_3508_s_4_2.webp)
Emma Neale: The Books My Kids Are Reading
Emma Neale is a Dunedin-based poet, novelist, and recently appointed editor of the esteemed New Zealand literary journal, Landfall, which...
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_7df5cae9650b4dcf811e32d240038ccb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/09ef90_7df5cae9650b4dcf811e32d240038ccb~mv2.webp)
![Book List: Picture Books about Death and Grief](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_7df5cae9650b4dcf811e32d240038ccb~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_7df5cae9650b4dcf811e32d240038ccb~mv2.webp)
Book List: Picture Books about Death and Grief
Whāngārei specialist children's librarian Meredith Wightman gives us a peek into her notebook today, and gives us a list of picture books...
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_7267d05fd377455b8ce05d17d03f2fc5~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/09ef90_7267d05fd377455b8ce05d17d03f2fc5~mv2.webp)
![Nida Fiazi: Books, Homes, and World Refugee Day](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_7267d05fd377455b8ce05d17d03f2fc5~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_7267d05fd377455b8ce05d17d03f2fc5~mv2.webp)
Nida Fiazi: Books, Homes, and World Refugee Day
For World Refugee Day, former refugee Nida Fiazi writes about her life and how books have intersected with it, and includes her...
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_b4b0dd3db2534ff0bd394eb778150d21~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_250,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_30,blur_30,enc_auto/09ef90_b4b0dd3db2534ff0bd394eb778150d21~mv2.webp)
![The Books That Formed My Childhood](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/09ef90_b4b0dd3db2534ff0bd394eb778150d21~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_480,h_270,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/09ef90_b4b0dd3db2534ff0bd394eb778150d21~mv2.webp)
The Books That Formed My Childhood
Bonnie Etherington, author of the multi-award-nominated novel The Earth Cries Out, reminisces about the stories and books from her...
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