October Kiwi Kids Books: Day 8.

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens for ages 5-7 years

Bird in spring! Along came a spider.

Written and illustrated by Raymond McGrath.

Graphic Universe, 2026.

Spring is here! The leaves are green. The sky is blue. The flowers are in bloom. And there's a new bird in town . . . Bird is finally out on his own, but he's having a hard time. Finding the perfect tree is anything but easy. Building a perfect nest isn't going well. As for making friends? That's proving to be the biggest test of all. That's when Spider swings by, catching Bird's eye. But they can't possibly be best friends . . . or can they?

There is a paucity of fiction for this age group – that aren’t picture books. It hasn’t been an area often covered by New Zealand creators – first readers (apart from actual readers by publishers like Wendy Pye) and first chapter books.

In this case, the author is a New Zealander, but the series is published in the USA, and looks and feels more USA than NZ.

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day 7.

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens that is a graphic novel

 

Folk remedy: the hidden world of the yōkai. (Book 1).

Written and illustrated by Jem Yoshioka.

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2025.

After twelve-year-old Maple Morimura reads a book detailing her family's relationship to the spirits and supernatural beings called yōkai, she unexpectedly travels to a hidden spirit world with a mischievous Yōkai named Ember.

Shortlisted for the Russell Clark Award for Illustration, in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, 2026.Shortlisted for the NZSA Best First Book Award in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, 2026.

Ends on a cliffhanger!

Jem dedicated her first book to her grandmother, Taeko, who travelled from Japan to Aotearoa New Zealand.

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day 6.

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens that is translated by a New Zealander

The Little Rabbit books.

Written and illustrated by Jörg Mϋhle.

Translated by Catherine Chidgey.

Gecko Press.

Board book.

Perfectly simple interactive board books for babies who love to take care of Little Rabbit.

There were so many books I could have chosen – but I love the fact that Catherine Chidgey translates these!

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day 5.

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens by an illustrator whose work you enjoy

Runaway Rooster.

Written by Melinda Szymanik.

Illustrated by Lael Chisholm.

David Bateman, 2026.

The Kahui farm has everything an animal could want, but every day, Little Fred Rooster runs away. He doesn't usually go too far, and the Kahuis' friendly neighbours always drive him back.No one knows why he goes.When Fred escapes yet again, Junior Kahui follows him. Will he solve the mystery of the runaway rooster once and for all?  

Is it the author or illustrator I enjoy? Why not both? 

Anyway, I haven't read this yet - it is so brand new! 

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day 4.

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens for ages 0-4 years. 

 

17 kings and 42 elephants.

Written by Margaret Mahy.

Illustrated by Alba Gil Celdrán.

Little Moa, 2024.

Originally published in 1972 by J. M. Dent & Sons.  

Aotearoa.

Picture book.

Seventeen kings on forty-two elephants Going on a journey through a wild wet night... Join the kings and the elephants on their jungle journey, meeting new creatures as they dance and sing their way through the jungle.

Everyone needs whimsy and glorious language – from birth.

I will always remember the 5-year-old who interrupted my reading of this, to tell me that there were ‘made up words.’ They seemed very unimpressed.

I felt so sad that they had already lost whimsy. 

While hunting for book covers, I found this maths lesson plan - well, lots of plans for different ages - based on how to equally share the care of 42 elephants among 17 kings.