The "Kiwi" Book

At the end of a glorious Anniversary Weekend (I even braved the sea twice), I was chatting with a friend who is about to fly off to Australia for the imminent arrival of her grandson. We were all offering advice as to what she needs to take over the ditch with her so that said grandson gets his share of kiwi culture amongst all the green and gold of Australia.


The Buzzy Bee and the Silver Fern were near the top of the list but it wasn't long before we got onto the subject of books that every Kiwi child should have. Hairy Maclary was a favourite of us all, as was Margaret Mahy (although we all had different books that we identified with). A traditional myths and legends book is a must and then there are the identities such as Nanny Mihi, Mrs Pareta, Granny McGarvey and Kapai. I particularly like A Book of Pacific Lullabies edited by Tessa Duder. There are just so many fantastic picture books and young peoples fiction being written by New Zealanders for New Zealanders that there really is something for everyone. I haven't even mentioned authors like the prolific Joy Cowley or David Hill yet.


Of course then we went on to adult reading ... but that's another story.