Media company NZME has apologised after several of its regional newspapers published a Kiwi children's book list recommending multiple titles which do not exist.
Some have speculated online that the fake book titles might have been AI-generated.
The list, which appeared in the Hawke's Bay Today and Rotorua Daily Post on December 22, included non-existent book recommendations attributed to New Zealand authors.
Canterbury author Tania Roxborogh said she first learnt of the listing after her aunt sent her a clipping from her local newspaper and later from a friend.
"I don't do picture books," Roxborogh told 1News.
"To me, it indicates how little knowledge and respect mainstream organisations have towards New Zealand books, especially children's books."
When she realised her name had appeared, she initially thought her latest novel had received some coverage. "I thought [my book had] been given some love," she said.
"But no, it was something that I hadn't ever written."
The list recommended a bilingual picture book called Te Rā Kirihimete o Hemi / Hemi's Christmas Day, supposedly by Roxborogh and illustrated by Tracy Duncan.
No such book exists.
Errors with the article were first flagged on the social media platform Bluesky, where users identified multiple titles on the list that did not appear to exist.
Other non-existent titles included Paddington's New Zealand Christmas and The Night Before Christmas in Aotearoa, allegedly co-authored by Margaret Mahy who died in 2012.
An NZME spokesperson said: "We recently published a list of book titles provided by the World Literacy Foundation that contained several inaccuracies.
"We have raised this with the foundation — they have apologised, and they're reviewing their internal processes. NZME apologises to our readers and the authors for the error."
There has been speculation online that the list may have been generated using artificial intelligence, similar to an incident earlier this year when multiple US newspapers published AI-generated summer reading recommendations containing fake books.
Google searches for several of the titles included in the NZME article returned AI-generated summaries that appeared to confirm the books existed, but these search engine summaries were drawing on the original, inaccurate press release.
Roxborogh, who judged this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, said the error represented a lost opportunity to celebrate genuine New Zealand literature.
"We work very, very hard as writers to kind of go, here I am," she said. "We struggle to get our books in the press and get noticed anyways."
The author said the incident highlighted broader issues facing writers.
Decline in literary media, spotlight on NZ authors
She added it was a "big deal" for local authors whenever they got exposure and that it was disappointing fact checking hadn't taken place.
"NZME was pretty happy to just run this when that space could have been taken up for celebration of genuine, amazing books."
Roxborogh, whose novel Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea won the 2021 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, said New Zealand children's books made up a depressingly small proportion of the local market in Aotearoa.
"There are incredible writers, and you never see them displayed, because it's dominated by louder voices that come in from the States."
She said coverage of local books had declined significantly in the past two decades.
"Back in the day, I always got my book featured in the New Zealand Herald. I have a couple of journals full of clippings every time your book is reviewed. That doesn't happen anymore," she said.
"You used to have books editors, you used to have arts editors. You used to have people who know this stuff and who could go, 'Wait, hang on a minute'."
1News has approached the World Literacy Foundation for comment.
It is not the first time NZME has faced criticism over possible AI-related issues. In July 2024, the company conceded it had used a large language model to write editorials that appeared in the Weekend Herald, accepting that the articles fell short of its standards.
Large language models or LLMs are a technical term used for the technology which drive products such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini.
The list of incorrect titles
A Kiwi Christmas, by Bronwyn Elsmore & Jacqui Colley
The Night Before Christmas in Aotearoa, by Margaret Mahy & Gavin Bishop
Te Rā Kirihimete o Hemi / Hemi’s Christmas Day, by Tania Roxborogh & Tracy Duncan
Meri Kirihimete, Kiwi!, by Lynley Dodd
Paddington’s New Zealand Christmas, by Michael Bond & Gavin Bishop
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