In 2005, a new publisher entered the New Zealand market – the first to specialise in English translations of children’s books. The notion of «homegrown translations» was a new departure for a post-colonial book market dominated for several decades by literary nationalism. This study aims to illuminate the history of translated children’s books in New Zealand and the sociocultural context in which the translations of this new publisher are produced and received in order to account for the peculiarities of marketing and reception associated with them. For this purpose, diachronic and synchronic perspectives are combined with case studies of individual books and series.

In 2005, a new publisher entered the New Zealand market – the first to specialise in English translations of children’s books. The notion of «homegrown translations» was a new departure for a post-colonial book market dominated for several decades by literary nationalism. This study aims to illuminate the history of translated children’s books in New Zealand and the sociocultural context in which the translations of this new publisher are produced and received in order to account for the peculiarities of marketing and reception associated with them. For this purpose, diachronic and synchronic perspectives are combined with case studies of individual books and series.