Mrs Windyflax seeks the help of a local policeman when she notices her letterbox has been the target of mischievous Pungapeople. The policeman finds himself outwitted by the wily Pungapeople and returns to his station, minus his clothes, to file a report.
This rattling good yarn has now been made into a major movie: Hunt For the Wilderpeople, directed and written by Taika Waititi, and starring Sam Neill and Julian Dennison. When Social Welfare threatens to put Ricky into care, the overweight Maori boy and cantankerous Uncle Hec flee into the remote and rugged Ureweras. The impassable bush serves up perilous adventures, forcing the pair of misfits to use all their skills to survive hunger, wild pigs and the vagaries of the weather. Worse still are the authorities, determined to bring Ricky and Uncle Hec to justice. But despite the difficulties of life on the run, a bond of trust and love blossoms between the world-weary man and his withdrawn side-kick.
When a hippo follows him home, Robert is pleased - but his parents are not! As more and more hippos crowd into the garden they turn to a witch for help. Detailed line and pastel drawings and a deliciously understated text combine in a very funny picture book.
A small boy wakes to the horror of wanting desperately to go to the toilet. He considers a number of options before remembering that the toilet is where he must go. A humorous book to share during toilet training of little ones, and a great deal of fun for older boys too.
‘Barry was never a father to me, but he did become a friend.’—Martin Crump Barry Crump was a titan of New Zealand writing, his semi-autobiographical novels about life as a rugged outdoorsman selling millions of copies. In his time, he was held up as the quintessential Kiwi bloke. He was also an unscrupulous brute, womaniser, alcoholic and absentee husband. And he was the father of six children – all of them boys. For Ivan, Martin, Stephen, Harry, Erik and Lyall, Barry has always been an enigma that casts a strange shadow over their lives. This is their story – the first time they’ve all gone on record together about their father. Published 25 years after Barry’s death, Sons of a Good Keen Man offers straight-and-true anecdotes that grip, entertain, surprise and even provoke a few laughs. Each son writes frankly and movingly about how they have navigated life with and without Barry. Illuminating, essential, at times confronting, and containing never-seen-before photos, Sons of a Good Keen Man is a timely reflection on fatherhood and identity, the legacy of trauma, and how time can both heal and ask new questions.
Collins Modern New Zealand Classics 3. With a younger readership, of 9-12, this much-loved classic retells the traumatic events surrounding the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera, from the viewpoint of two young schoolgirls. Lillian lives with her widowed mother at Te Wairoa, the village which acts as a centre for tourists who flock to see the famous eighth wonder of the world - the pink and white terraces. When Mattie, an English girl of her own age arrives with her parents, Lillian finally has an opportunity to join a tour party led by her friend, the famous Guide Sophia. But these are worrying times - the old tohunga has been prophesying doom and disaster, and when they travel across Lake Rotomahana, a mysterious canoe appears out of the mists - a waka wairua, or ghost canoe, and all who live in the shadow of Mt Tarawera are about to have their lives changed forever. An exciting tale of New Zealand's recent history, Elsie Locke's timeless classic has now been reissued for a new audience.