October Kiwi Kids Books: Day Four

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens: for infants or younger children, written in te reo Māori: 
Koro. 
Written and illustrated by: Gavin Bishop. 
Publication: Gecko Press, 2021; ISBN 9781776574018

Also available as: Pops. 

Publication: Gecko Press, 2021; ISBN 9781776574001

I love the simplicity of this. The text is simple enough that non-fluent speakers can share it in storytime sessions. 

I love the illustrations - and this one, with the contrast in hand size - is one of my favourites.

Gavin has a wonderful command of the use of white space. 

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day Three

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens: with great worldbuilding

Series title: Chronicles of Stone
Author: Vince Ford
Book titles: 

1. Scorched bone. Scholastic NZ, 2008; ISBN 9781869438302. 
2. Set in stone. Scholastic NZ, 2009; ISBN 978186943831. 
3. Tribal ash. Scholastic NZ, 2010; ISBN 9781869438326. 

In one volume: Scholastic NZ, 2010; ISBN 9781869438241. 

 

Forgive me, but it has been a while since I read these (like, on publication). But, as someone who read Clan of the Cave Bear as a teen, has studied human evolution, and is an archaeology fan - I appreciated the research and world building Vincent Ford put in to this teen series. 

It's worth searching your local library for - especially if you have teens who are struggling to find adventure-forward reads, without much in the way of fantasy or romance / relationship stuff. 

 

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day Two

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

Titiro Look
Author / Illustrator: Gavin Bishop
Translator: Darryn Joseph
Publisher: Gecko Press, 2024. 

In the words of Betsy Bird, US librarian, reviewer, and author: 

YUSSS!!! Oh lord, people, why is something like this so rare? All I want is for accomplished picture book illustrators to hone their talents to the board book format and THEN be paired with those books that will be most useful to children. I’m talking accordion books/high contrast/lift-the-flaps/you name it. Gavin Bishop is of Maori descent (Ngāti Pukeko, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Mahuta, Tainui) and is a friggin’ New Zealand national treasure. He’s also been making books for kids for decades upon decades. LOOK is a particular delight with faces on one side of the accordion pull-out pages, and objects on the other. Meanwhile FRIEND goes through a range of different emotions with a little dog as your avatar. More of this please! 

Well, Titiro Look is definitely more! 

October Kiwi Kids Books: Day One

Share a New Zealand book for children or teens: with purple on the cover: 

The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs
Author: Anika Moa
Illustrator: Rebecca Ter Borg.
Publisher: Puffin / Penguin Random House, 2024. 
ISBN: 9781776958184

Let me share some of the reasons why I love this book, in no particular order: 

1. Anika Moa and her sense of humour. 
2. Rebecca Ter Borg's illustrations. 
3. Uncle Hemi. 
4. The lambs. 
5. The Witch. 
6. The moral. I'm sure being a knitter is one of the reasons I'm not evil. 

As a bonus, here is Anika singing The Witch of Maketu. 

October Kiwi Kids Books: Introduction

I shared the Discover Irish Books Challenge to by Facebook profile. 

It may surprise you to know that a LOT of my friends (online and in real life) are readers. 

They also read a lot of books aimed at children and young adults. You're shocked, I can tell. 

Anyway, one of my brilliant Aotearoa children's literature friends ran with the idea - and now we're doing the October Kiwi Kids Books challenge!

You are welcome to join us on Facebook.