Toby Morris

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending February 19

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A man sits in a window seat, headphones on, reading

The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1  Access All Areas: The Diversity Manifesto for TV and Beyond by Lenny Henry (Faber & Faber, $27) “Draws on decades … Read more

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending 5 February

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Head and shoulders portrait of Dr Hinemoa Elder alongside the cover of her book, Aroha

The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1  Aroha: Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life Lived in Harmony with our Planet by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $30) “He hono … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: Covid-19 transmission 101

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Our understanding of the way Covid-19 is transmitted from person to person has changed a lot since the pandemic began. A year in, here’s what we now know. It’s just over a year since the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised its highest alarm over Covid-19, declaring it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). … Read more

Election night in 10 drawings

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Last night Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris sat down in the office with a ipad, two slices of pizza and a brief to provide live-ish election night coverage via the medium of drawing. Here’s how that went. In the lead up to finally finding out some results, the big story was how many New Zealanders had … Read more

The Side Eye: How to draw Winston Peters

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Each week in the lead-up to the election, The Side Eye cartoonist Toby Morris is going to teach us how to draw a different New Zealand politician. This week, it’s the New Zealand First leader. Click here for the rest of the How to draw series. The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby … Read more

The Side Eye: How to draw Marama Davidson and James Shaw

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Each week in the lead-up to the election, The Side Eye cartoonist Toby Morris is going to teach us how to draw a different New Zealand politician. This week, it’s the co-leaders of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. Click here for the rest of the How to draw series. The Side Eye is a … Read more

The Side Eye: How to draw Judith Collins

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Each week in the lead-up to the election, The Side Eye cartoonist Toby Morris is going to teach us how to draw a different New Zealand politician. This week, it’s the leader of the opposition. Click here for the rest of the How to draw series. Click here for the rest of the How to … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: Bridging the gap with someone who’s been pulled in by disinformation

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Don’t approach the task as a battle to be won, but as a conversation to get to the underlying reasons why someone might have been susceptible to the false information in the first place.  Last week marked six months since the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. How the world has changed in that time. Here … Read more

The Side Eye: How to draw Jacinda Ardern

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Each week in the lead-up to the election, The Side Eye cartoonist Toby Morris is going to teach us how to draw a different New Zealand politician. First up, it’s the prime minister. Click here for the rest of the How to draw series. Click here for the rest of the How to draw series. … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: Now let’s flatten the infodemic curve

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It’s likely you’re being exposed to masses of Covid information on a daily basis, and not all of it will be reliable. Here are some tips for telling the difference, and stopping the spread. Thanks to Covid-19, most of us have a new word in our vocabulary. Epidemiology: the branch of medical science that deals … Read more

The bumper Toby Morris & Siouxsie Wiles Covid-19 box set

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All the illustrations and animations in one place. The animations and illustrations created by Toby Morris in collaboration with Siouxsie Wiles and published by The Spinoff have been shared in their hundreds of millions over the last couple of months. For ease of reference we’ve put them all together in one post. You can also … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: What is the Covid-19 ‘triangle’?

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With over 24 million confirmed cases and more than 820,000 people dead, Covid-19 is playing out differently in various parts of the world. To understand this a little better, Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris walk you through the Covid-19 ‘triangle’.  Since this pandemic started, I’ve been getting lots of messages from people and hearing an … Read more

Toby Morris and his kids review a cool new comic

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Kids will love Jonathan King’s graphic novel The Inkberg Enigma, according to actual kids Max (eight) and Iggy (six). In a sleepy fishing town, there’s something strange going on behind the scenes. Luckily two plucky kids called Miro and Zia are here to investigate. It’s The Inkberg Enigma, a new graphic novel for young readers, … Read more

This children’s book awards speech is the happy cry you need right now

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Announcing the winners of the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.  The supreme prize of the night, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, goes to Selina Tusitala Marsh for her super-personal picture book, Mophead. Mophead is memoir and clapback and wild doodle; it’s the story of what it felt … Read more

The Unity children’s bestseller chart for the month of June

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What’s the best way to get adults reading? Get them reading when they’re children – and there’s no better place to start than the Unity Children’s Bestseller Chart. AUCKLAND 1  Mophead by Selina Tusitala Marsh (Auckland University Press, $25, 5+) A finalist in this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and … Read more

Behold! The finalists of the 2020 Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

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The embargo on this year’s list has just been lifted. Here are all the books in the running for a gong. Huge caveat: we are yet to read them all. We’re working on that, snarled-up postal system permitting. So please consider these initial thoughts. We’re very chuffed to see Our Toby (Morris) in there with … Read more

Introducing the Ockhams-ready Spinoff book awards bingo card!

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Pour some bubbly, stick some sausage rolls on a platter, and park yourself in front of the laptop – the lockdown Ockhams are being broadcast live tonight on YouTube. Courtesy of illustrator Toby Morris, we have just the thing to complete your viewing experience. Tonight, the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony goes live … Read more

A different headspace: Six people on being neurodivergent during lockdown

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Living with a differently-wired brain is challenging at the best of times – never mind in the midst of a global pandemic. Erin Kavanagh–Hall chats with six neurodivergent New Zealanders who share the obstacles they’ve overcome during the Covid-19 lockdown. ‘I was terrified of being stuck inside’ Cate, 31, Wellington Diagnosis: Autism As a person … Read more

Covid-19: The Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris gifs now in te reo Māori

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Our Covid-19 gifs are now available in te reo Māori. Spread the word (while staying at home). The suite of excellent illustrations and gifs created by microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles and illustrator Toby Morris have had an undeniable impact during the Covid-19 crisis. They offer clear communication of sometimes complex concepts, and their popularity has seen … Read more

The Bulletin: Message to NZers overseas changes – seek shelter, not passage home

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Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: MFAT advice to NZers overseas changes, parliamentary scrutiny to continue amid adjournment, and an essential piece to read on the shutdown rules. As of yesterday, the message to New Zealanders overseas has changed. Last week, foreign minister Winston Peters warned those who wanted to return that … Read more

After ‘Flatten the Curve’, we must now ‘Stop the Spread’. Here’s what that means

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We must act quickly, with no half-measures. Dr Siouxsie Wiles explains why, with illustrations by Toby Morris. The Spinoff’s ongoing expert-led, evidence-based coverage of Covid-19 is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join Spinoff Members here. Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris and I recently introduced you to the concept of #FlattenTheCurve. Now we want to … Read more

The Unity children’s bestseller chart for the month of November

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What’s the best way to get adults reading? Get them reading when they’re children – and there’s no better place to start than the Unity Children’s Bestseller Chart. These lists of the bestselling children’s books at Unity Wellington and Little Unity in Auckland cover the four weeks to November 29 2019. AUCKLAND 1  The Book … Read more

Honk if you feel good: The Spinoff reviews Untitled Goose Game

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Toby Morris plays the lo-fi avian puzzle game that’s taken over the internet. “It’s a lovely morning in the village. You are a horrible goose.” And with that, we’re in the world of this week’s surprise hit game: Untitled Goose Game by Australian studio House House. You play a goose – not a super powered … Read more

The Unity children’s bestseller chart for the month of August

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What’s the best way to get adults reading? Get them reading when they’re children – and there’s no better place to start than the Unity Children’s Bestseller Chart. These lists of the bestselling children’s books at Unity Wellington and Little Unity in Auckland cover the four weeks to August 29 2019. AUCKLAND 1  Te Tiriti … Read more

Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending August 16

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The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.   AUCKLAND 1 Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber, $23) Sally Rooney Sally Rooney Sally Rooney Sally Rooney 2  An … Read more