children’s literature

A review of Lizard’s Tale, winner of NZ’s junior fiction book award for 2020

15 August 202015 August 2020 by Sam Brooks

An adventure story that splits the difference between action-packed intrigue and touching melancholy, Sam Brooks reviews Lizard’s Tale, which has just won the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award for Junior Fiction. When you think of settings for a children’s novel, the dawn before the dusk of the Second World War in Singapore is probably … Read more

Dear Jack, we love you

4 October 201929 September 2019 by The Spinoff Review of Books

Jack Lasenby died on Friday afternoon. Here, collected stories about a great writer, mentor and friend. Jane Arthur, formerly of Gecko Press, co-founder of The Sapling: I met Jack when I helped publish Uncle Trev and the Whistling Bull at Gecko Press. He made a big impression on me. I have never been so delighted … Read more