Blog Archives

Reading, writing and arithmetic, Barbara Else

Speed of Light
Joy Cowley
Gecko Press, $20.00,
ISBN 9781877579936

Teddy One-Eye: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear
Gavin Bishop
Random House, $35.00,
ISBN 9781775537274

The ACB with Honora Lee
Kate De Goldi (drawings by Gregory O’Brien)
Longacre, $25.00,
ISBN 9781869799915

Three stars of New Zealand literature, three award-winning books, three very different approaches and audiences: how is any reviewer to manage this daunting assignment?

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Posted in Children, Fiction, Literature, Review

Rhyming pleasures, Linda Burgess

Over the Hill to Greytown
Tania Atkinson (Viv Walker illus)
Wai Art Press, $20.00,
ISBN 9780473252526

Bruiser and the Big Snow
Gavin Bishop
Random House, $21.00,
ISBN 9781775534860

Toucan Can
Juliette MacIver and Sarah Davis
Gecko Press, $20.00,
ISBN 9781877467547

The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so Sophie, who was having tea with her mummy in the kitchen, spied Tom Thumb, who was in the cupboard. Can’t go under it, can’t go over it, and Alfie got in first and the door shut behind him. I’ll eat you up, I love you so. Your father was put in a pie by Mrs McGregor. And into the water they fell. Frances will only eat bread and jam. Captain Najork came with his hired sportsmen. The cat from Brazil caught a very bad chill. “EEEEEOWWWFFTZ” said Scarface Claw. The little yellow digger will sort it.

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Posted in Children, Literature, Review

Ephemera and treasure, Eirlys Hunter

The Wonky Donkey Craig Smith, music Craig Smith, illustrations Katz Cowley Scholastic, $24.99, ISBN 9781869439262 Old Hu-hu/Huhu Koroheke Kyle Mewburn, illustrations Rachel Driscoll Maori text Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira Scholastic, $18.99, ISBN 9781869435189 / 9781869438975 Piggity-Wiggity Jiggity Jig Goes to

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Posted in Children, Literature, Review

Where the boys are, Anna Rogers

Native Wit Hamish Keith Random House, $44.99, ISBN 9781869418434 Daddy was a German Spy and Other Scandals: A Memoir Brian Edwards Penguin Books, $40.00, ISBN 9780143009221 Piano Rock: A 1950s Childhood Gavin Bishop Random House, $34.99, ISBN 9781869790103 Google “memoirs

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Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

A child’s eye view Gavin Bishop

Back and Beyond: New Zealand Painting for the Young and Curious Gregory O’Brien Auckland University Press, $34.99,  ISBN 9781869404048 This is a delicious book. As a child, I would have loved it. It reminds me of children’s books that were

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Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review

Illustrating the gaps between words, Raymond Huber

Rats!  Gavin Bishop Random House, $30.00, ISBN 978869419028 Tahi: One Lucky Kiwi Melanie Drewery, illustrations Ali Teo and John O’Reilly Random House, $30.00, ISBN 9781869419301 To the Harbour  Stanley Palmer Lopdell House Gallery, $35.00,  ISBN 9780958228442 Snake and Lizard  Joy

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Posted in Children, Fiction, Literature, Review

At home in Hobbiton and Boy Land, Gavin Bishop

Gavin Bishop leafs through two boyhood favourites.  The three of us are about the same age – my first picture book, my teddy bear and me. The book lies, or should I say languishes, coddled in tissue and plastic to

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Posted in Imprints

Picture books, the cunning genre, Norman Bilbrough

Papa’s Island Melanie Drewery, illustrations Fifi Colston Reed, $16.99, ISBN 1869485947 Nobody’s Dog Jennifer Beck, illustrations Lindy Fisher Scholastic, $16.99, ISBN 1869437284 Haere – Farewell, Jack, Farewell Tim Tipene, illustrations Huhana Smith Huia, $16.99, ISBN 1869691040 Uncle Jack Kate De

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Posted in Children, Literature, Review

Pinning down the “again” factor, Linda Burgess

The Other Ark Lynley Dodd Mallinson Rendel, $27.95, ISBN 090878385X Taming the Sun: Four Maori Myths Gavin Bishop Random, $29.95, ISBN 1869416120 Koro’s Medicine Melanie Drewery, illustrations by Sabrina Malcolm Huia, $16.95, ISBN 1869691044 Clubs  Kate De Goldi, illustrations by

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Posted in Children, Literature, Review

A wink to the grown-ups, Gavin Bishop

The Night Kite Peter Bland, illustrations by Carl Bland, Mallinson Rendel, $24.95, ISBN 0908783833 Napoleon and the Chicken Farmer Lloyd Jones, illustrations by Graeme Gash, Mallinson Rendel, $29.95, ISBN 0908783752 Cat’s Whiskers – 4 Favourite Lynley Dodd Stories Lynley Dodd

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Posted in Children, Literature, Review
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