PICTURE BOOKS Batt, Tanya
A Child’s Book of Faeries
Illus Gail Newey* Barefoot Books 1841489530 Hb $29.95 Collection of stories about faeries.
Catching Fish
Illus Natalia Vasquez* Clean Slate Press 2012 9781927185568 Hb $24.99 Jake’s favourite shirt has five fish on the bottom of it. He wears it everywhere until his mother insists on washing it. When he puts it on again the fish have gone! He finds them flying in the sky and has to find a way to catch them. A story about the power of words, with contemporary collage illustrations by a Peruvian artist which capture the spirit of the story in their diverse panels. 3-8.
Remember That November
Rats!
Rufus the Rooster
The House that Jack Built
Illus Lindy Fisher Huia 2013 9781775500100 Pb $20 At the school speech competition Aroha, wearing a white feather in her hair, tells the story of another 5th of November - the invasion of Parihaka in 1881. Finalist NZ Post Children’s Book Awards 2013. Illus Jennifer Beck Polygraphia 2010 9781877332869 Eb $30 Polygraphia 2010 9781877332852 Pb $30+p&p Have you ever seen a rooster by the roadside and wondered where he came from, and if he disappeared, where he might have gone? 3-7.
Sam Goes Wild
Illus Jenna Packer New Holland 2012 9781869663063 Pb $19.99 Sam has been ill and his appetite has disappeared. Uncle Nick Illus Helen Bacon comes up with a plan to get Sam’s appetite back. He suggests Clean Slate Press 2012 9781927185575 Hb $24.99 Toby tells his friends that his dad is a dragon catcher complete Sam visits him in Hokitika, on the west coast of the South Island, with a suitable dragon-catcher protective suit, but now it’s coinciding with the Wildfoods Festival. 4-7. Father’s Day at school. His dad finds out why Toby is worrying and Stefania’s Dancing Slippers comes up with a plan. 4-8. Illus Lindy Fisher The Faery’s Gift Scholastic 2007 9781869438111 Hb $31 Scholastic 2007 Pb 9781869438111 $19.50 Illus Nicoletta Ceccoli A small Polish girl comes to New Zealand as a refugee in 1944. The Barefoot Books 2008 978184146862298 Pb $35.50 The woodcutter’s heart is full of longing. He has no children, his story of her experiences and how she clings on to the one treasure mother is going blind and they are hungry. One day he rescues a she has from her previous life. Detailed collage illustrations are faerie from a hawk and is granted a wish. But it’s not as easy as true artworks and worthy of close examination. 6-10. you might think to choose the one best thing. 5+ The Bantam and the Soldier The Princess and the White Bear King Illus Robyn Belton Scholastic 1996 9781869433932 Pb $19.50 Illus Nicoletta Ceccoli Amidst the horror and devastation of World War 1 an unusual Barefoot Books 9781846862281 Hb & CD $35.50 In the distant north a young princess embarks on a breath-taking friendship is formed. adventure in the land of ice and snow as she searches for happi- Whetu: the Little Blue Duck ness in a land which lies east of the sun and west of the moon. A Illus Renee Haggo melding of three traditional tales. 7+. Duck Creek Press 2011 9781877378522 Hb $29.99 The little blue duck has a life fraught with danger, from losing his Baynton, Martin sibling, evading the stoat and learning how to survive from his Jane and the Magician parents until it was time for him to go out on his own on a river in Walker Books (2000), 2006 9781406305289 Pb $18.99 Jane and the dragon are sent to find the magician to provide enter- the mountains where he saves a lost climber, who gives him his tainment for the prince’s birthday, but he’s caused a flood and nearly name - Whetu, and campaigns to stop mining on his river so that he can go on to find a mate and have a family of his own. The illuscauses the dragon to drown.. TV series. trations in delicately layered watercolours. 4-8.
My Dad’s a Dragon Catcher
The Dragon’s Purpose
Belcher, Angie Walker Books (1990), 2006 9781406305265 Pb $18.99 The villagers are preparing for the summer carnival but Jane is The Girls in the Kapahaka worried about the dragon who has lost his purpose. TV series. Illus Debbie Tipuna Picture Puffin (2006), 2008 9780143503231 Pb $17.99 Baynton, Terri Rose Told in the cumulative style of The House that Jack Built. Mr Bear Branches & the Cloud Conundrum Information about participating in kapahaka, including Maori ABC Books 2012 9780733329210 Hb $29.99 words and details about how things like piupiu are made. Glossary Mr Bear Branches and Lintfrey Longfellow were best friends who with pronunciation at the back. loved taking walks, discussing books and cloudwatching. Lintfrey wants to sit in the clouds but they’re not really made for it and Mr Bishop, Gavin Bear wants to find an answer to the problem. 4+. Finalist NZ Post Bruiser Children’s Books Awards 2013. Random House 2011 9781869794514 Pb with flaps $22 Random House 2011 9781869794491 Hb $34 Beames, Margaret Bruiser is a front-end loader building a motorway. He’s tough and Oliver Goes Exploring strong ploughing through hills and crushing rocks until he gets Illus Sue Hitchcock stuck in a muddy ditch and upsets a mother magpie and her baby Scholastic 2008 9781869438753 Pb $19.50 and Bruiser’s softer side is revealed. Textural and boldly coloured Oliver is out and about in the daytime, and for a cat there is so collage illustrations. 3-8. much to see and do, it’s very hard to go home again. 4+. Beck, Jennifer Gypsy Day on the Farm
Kiwi Moon
Random House (2005), 2012 9781869790516 Pb $16.99 On the surface this is a very simple story of being different, but it Illus Lisa Allen also contains the themes of intertribal warfare, European coloniNew Holland 2011 9781869663155 Pb $19.99 sation of New Zealand, Maori/Pakeha relations, and conservation. Gypsy Day (1 June) is a special time for the farming world when dairy Russell Clark Award 2006. farms change ownership, families move to their new farms, often Maui and the Goddess of Fire taking their herds of cows with them. Told in rhyme, from a young boy’s point of view, follow a family of share-milkers moving south Scholastic 1997 9781869433819 Pb $19.50 with their cows. Illustrations give a vivid depiction of farm life. 4-7. Maui tricks the Goddess of Fire into giving him all her fingernails of fire. Also in te reo Maori.
Nobody’s Dog
Illus Lindy Fisher Scholastic 2005 9781869436681 Hb $31 A boy finds a stray dog but his father won’t let him keep it. The boy thinks the dog has been shot but when he has an accident in the bush the dog comes to his rescue, only to disappear again when help arrives. Based on a true story. Stunning multi-layered illustrations. 5+. NZ Post Book Awards 2006 Children’s Choice.
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Random House (2007), 2011 9781869790394 Pb $24.99 Polly Piper’s house is full of rats and a stranger turns up offering to get rid of them. Spot the rats hiding in the illustrations before they are lured away by music. Mrs Piper feels strangely lonely when they have left so they come to an agreement that suits them all. 4+. Gecko Press 2012 9781877467608 Hb with jacket $34.99 Gecko Press 2012 9781877467615 Pb w flaps $19.99 A book with two strands - the rhythmic text, based on the traditional rhyme, about Jack Bull who travels to New Zealand from London as a new settler in 1798. The contemporary illustrations tell the story from a Maori perspective beginning with creation. 3+. Also available in te reo Maori.
There Was a Crooked Man
Gecko Press 2009 9781877467240 Bd $18 An old English rhyme given a contemporary treatment with Bishop’s skilful use of printmaking and painting techniques. Simple fun in a sturdy package, the vertical format is the perfect frame for the long-legged man. 0+.
There Was An Old Woman
Gecko Press 2008 9781877467165 Bd $18 An old English rhyme in a vertical board book for very young children. Illustrations created with printmaking and ink wash in warm, clear colours, inspired by The Flight of the Old Woman Who Was Tossed Up in a Basket by Aliquis (1844).
Bixley, Donovan
Old MacDonald’s Farm
Hodder Moa 2011 9781869712303 Pb $19.99 A rendering of a well-known children’s song which is Kiwi throughout. Look for the magpie in every picture and pore over the lively digital illustrations to see what classic Kiwi items have been included, also displayed on the endpapers. 3-8.
The Looky Book
Hachette Children’s 2012 9781869712723 Pb $19.99 A Kiwi style puzzle book. Find the numbers with crazy lambs, spot the difference, find the animals hidden in the bush. Hours of visually stimulating brain-tingling fun. 4+.
The Wheels on the Bus
Hachette 2010 9781869712136 Pb $19.99 Hachette May 2013 9781869712990 Bd $14.99 This popular children’s song has been illustrated with a crew of familiar-looking passengers such as kiwi, tuatara, fantail and more.
Bland, Peter
Starkey the Gentle Pirate
Illus Nikki Slade Robinson Steele Roberts 2010 9781877577031 Hb $19.99 Starkey, the old pirate from the crew in Peter Pan, sets out on a final voyage to find Captain Hook’s buried gold ... but the journey itself turns out to be the real treasure.
Boles, Dianne
Witchy Goes Shopping
Illus Aki Fukuoka Scholastic 2010 9781869439255 Pb $19.50 It’s Witchy’s birthday but there’s nothing in the cupboard to celebrate with so she flies to the supermarket and buys spider eggs, worms and dragon’s blood to make afternoon tea for her friends. 3-7.
Bottin, Janet Slater
The Big Block of Chocolate
Illus Jeffy James Scholastic (1985), 2003 9781869435653 Pb $19.50 Jenny wants the block of chocolate all to herself but that’s not everyone’s idea.
Bowers-Vette, Megan Mangu & Ma
HarperCollins 2012 9781869509958 Bd $14.99 A first book for babies with black and white images which babies are known to be very responsive to. 0-1.
Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant
Random House (1981), 2007 9781869418922 Pb $19.99 Mrs McGinty is a drab and sad old woman whose life is transformed when she buys a little plant that grows and grows. A 25-year-old classic with stylish art deco style illustrations. Russell Clark Medal for Illustration 1984. 4+.
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