Bright ideas for Young Minds is an activity book packed full of 70 step-by-step activities you can do at home with your children for little or no money.…
Beloved New Zealand writer and illustrator Gavin Bishop has recently published his latest book – Teddy One-Eye. Scary, funny, heart-warming and magical, this is a story of love…
From Rudolf and Santa to Slinki Malinki and the proverbial Pukeko in a Punga Tree, there’s a Christmas-themed picture book for everyone. In most bookshops, though, Baby Jesus…
After the sad death of Margaret Mahy last year, the title of greatest living children’s author in New Zealand must go to Joy Cowley, author of literally hundreds…
This book is one of a series by the author about Forensic Psychiatrist Jo Beckett. The story involves Autumn Reiniger’s reality birthday party in which a “crime situation”…
I’m not sure why, but I had low expectations of this book when I began it. However, I was pleasantly surprised! This debut book by New Zealand author…
The colourful life of Charles Dickens is depicted by Claire Tomalin in her new biography of the great English author. For those who grew up reading David Copperfield,…
I recently read that dystopia is the new vampire book and Jack Lasenby’s Calling the Gods is well within this genre. An engaging imagining of an alternative future,…
Lee Lipsenthal is a successful doctor, with a loving wife and two children. He is fifty-two, eats well, exercises, and meditates. One day he is diagnosed with terminal…
“Then down to the river came a little green frog and a hog from the bog and a dog on a jog, all a-quiver by the river where…
This book features all of the characters from the first Hairy MacLary book in a touch and feel form. It’s a larger format than most other board books…
Waiting for Later is the most gorgeous, whimsical story about a little girl who wants to play and do things with the other members of her family but…
This is a story full of mystery but not too much to make it hard to follow. Its about a young boy called Jasper, who lives in the…
One day a little boy named Brody starts at a new school. Brody has special needs and this story tells how his classmates come to realise that it’s…
I’m liking I didn’t know quite how much I didn’t know before Neil MacGregor started showing me around the world.
There’s nothing nicer than cuddling up with your kids and a book and sharing a great story together. I’m sure that all of you have had the experience…
The set up: No one wanted the job of creating and maintaining Earth, so it was given to Bob, one of the committee member’s no hoper teenage son.…
It’s 1996 and Josh and Emma encounter the internet for the first time. Emma uses her email and password that she obviously keeps to adulthood because when she…
In the great tradition of The Wonky Donkey, Hank the Wrestling Shark is a humorous, story / song about… wrestling a shark. As you do! In this rhyming…
In my last blog, we disovered why books are important for children and how you can inspire a love of reading for your child. In this blog, I…
It’s likely that your own attitude to reading was formed in childhood, influenced by opportunities to read books and the encouragement of the people around you. The early…
Maria Gill always knew that she was going to write a book but didn’t expect to end up writing non-fiction for children. Over the years, she’s found a…