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THE SAMPLING: Into the White, by J Grochowicz
The enthralling and harrowing true story of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, with evocative photographs, and...


THE SAMPLING: One House for All and Witchfairy
Book Island began here in New Zealand, but is now based in Bristol in the UK. These two books are focused on how to embrace difference....


THE SAMPLING: Rain Fall, by Ella West (Allen & Unwin)
I'm not running late like I usually am. Maybe that's why I look in the river, maybe that's why I stop when I see it. A dark-coloured...


THE SAMPLING: Catch Me When You Fall
A moving novel about learning to find happiness in the face of uncertainty and discovering a love that transcends the boundary between...


THE SAMPLING: Time Twins, by Astridge & Norlin
Eleven-year-old Astrid thinks she is imagining the quiet boy who appears in her room in the middle of the night and then vanishes as if...


THE SAMPLING: Lily Max: Sun, Surf, Action
Young fashionista Lily Max reunites with her long-lost BFF Greer at a beautiful surf beach, where the movie 'Wave' is being filmed. A...


THE SAMPLING: How to Bee, by Bren MacDibble
A story about family, loyalty, kindness and bravery, set against an all-too-possible future where climate change has forever changed the...


THE SAMPLING: All Our Secrets, by Jennifer Lane
All Our Secrets is set in a small town called Coongahoola, with the dark Bagooli River running through it. After the Virgin Mary appears...


KA PAI! Cool stuff from around the internet
Every so often we compile, for your browsing pleasure, cool children's book happenings (and peripherally related news) from around...


School Librarians of Aotearoa: Cathryn Mitchell
Cathryn Mitchell is our final School Librarian of Aotearoa this year. Her background includes public library work around Auckland, and...


Sarah Davis: Re-drawing our classic books
Margaret Mahy's The Christmas Tree Tangle was originally published in 1994, and a newly illustrated edition was released by Puffin in...


The Reckoning: Wonderful Choices
Author, publisher, and full-time feminist Deb Potter on how books can open up wonderful choices for young people - or not. Illustration...


Crafts with Fifi: Make a Tangled Christmas Star
Fifi Colston has come up with this smart, simple craft to complete with your little ones in the final few days leading up to Christmas,...


Sacha & Josh: holding keys to magical worlds
Sacha Cotter and Josh Morgan first came into the children’s picture book scene in 2014 with their books Keys and the te reo Māori...


Book Reviews: Picture Books and Non-Fiction
Esther Kiernan reviews four very different recent releases from Aotearoa, taking in a few centuries, and the breadth of New Zealand and...
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