A CLUTCH OF NZ KIDS TITLES FROM PENGUIN

The Apple
Ben Brown & Tracy Duncan
Picture Puffin - $19.95

Ben Brown is the author of a number of children’s books, most notably A Booming in the Night – winner of the Best Picture Book in the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2006. He has also written Fifty-Five Colours, Eel Dreaming, The Thief of Colours, The Penguin who wanted to Fly and The Rainmakers.
Ben lives with his wife, talented illustrator Helen Taylor, and their children in the portside town of Lyttelton.

Tracy Duncan is a successful author and illustrator who, most recently, wrote and illustrated Kei te Pehea Koe ? for Puffin. As well as being a children’s author she is also a popular artist. Her paintings are represented by a variety of galleries throughout New Zealand. Tracy lives in the Moutere Hills of Nelson with her husband and children.

These two talented South Island artists have combined to produce an enchanting fairy tale about a bright and shiny girl with green eyes, golden hair and rosy red cheeks and a little old and very wise lady called Granny Smith. Delightful story for the pre-schoolers in your life.

PUKEKO THE PERFORMER
Marie Langley and Samer Hatam
Picture Puffin - $17.95

Pukeko had always loved dancing.
He was great at the samba, the rumba, the foxtrot,
And the Charleston.
He did rock’n’roll and the fandango for fun, and
Belly dancing and line dancing to keep fit.

But when Pukeko decides to take up singing things do not work out quite so well…………..
Super story featuring several of our much-loved native birds by freelance writer and editor, and former teacher, Marie Langley, with appealing, boldly coloured illustrations from the talented Samer Hatam who has over 70 books to his credit and was exhibited at the Bologna Book Fair in 2002. He and his wife migrated to New Zealand from Iraq in 2003.

AMAZING TALES OF AOTEAROA
As told by Glenn Colquhoun, illustrated by Ali Teo
Raupo - $30

Glenn Colquhoun is one of our best-known and most-loved contemporary poets but this time around he has turned his hand to telling, or should that be retelling, dinkum New Zealand stories.
I guess you might call them traditional Maori tales with a modern twist and setting.
The stories feature sisters Hareata and Brianne.

Once upon a time Glenn Colquhoun says he lived next door to the sisters and he claims he pinched their stories because they ate his biscuits.
He also says that when he’s not scribbling on pieces of paper he is a doctor and looks in people’s ears to see if they are listening. His wonderful sense of humour and his keen ear for the language of the people is shown clearly in this fun collection.
And it is wonderfully illustrated by Ali Teo who has four or five earlier titles to her credit including one of my favourites, KISS! KISS! YUCK! YUCK! As she says, if it wasn’t for her these stories would be naked.