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.