The Word Witch: The Magical Verse of Margaret Mahy

Finally, Margaret Mahy's much-loved poems and stories in rhyme have been collected together by her biographer, Tessa Duder, for the first time ever in this wonderful new book. With each of the 66 works accompanied by poignant illustrations by one of New Zealand's best, David Elliot, and packaged as a beautiful hardcover edition, The Word Witch is set to delight generations of readers who have grown up with Mahy and enchant newcomers to her work for many years to come. Included in the book are such classics as Bubble Trouble, Down the Back of the Chair and Dashing Dog, as well as other gems from Mahy's School Journal days and her own childhood, and some previously unpublished works.

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Another 30 NZ Stories For Children

100 NZ Poems For Children

Cloud Farm: High On Banks Peninsula - Chetwynd, Jane

'Whenever I had a spare moment from work my thoughts would return to the 'Farms for Sale' column.' THIS is the captivating account of a seduction. A woman is unaccountably smitten by the desire to have her own 'farm', to the point where she resigns from her job as professor of medicine at Canterbury University and takes on her own Banks Peninsula property.

Chicken Feathers - Cowley, Joy (Illustrated by David Elliot)

Chicken Feathers is a delightful story of Josh who is a worrier and for good reason – Josh’s grandma has arrived to run the household while Josh’s Dad is busy with their chicken farm, and his mother is in hospital about to give birth. Then there’s Semolina, Josh’s cantankerous but extraordinary pet hen. In return for prawn crackers and the odd beer she’ll tell Josh the animal gossip.Chicken Feathers is a warm and funny tale of a special friendship.

Pigtails the Pirate - Elliot, David

Jess's father was lost at sea. Sometimes, far away, she thought she heard his old violin playing sadly, reaching out for her. Finally, she could no longer bear waiting so she set sail in her little boat to find him. Drawn to the sound of her father's favourite tune, she and her boat are snatched from the sea by the scavenging giant, Pigtails the Pirate.

Rats! - Bishop, Gavin

Rats! Is a quirky, lively fun story with stunning illustrations. Polly Piper's house in infested with rats - they are everywhere. She calls in an exterminator (closely resembling the Pied Piper) who leads them all away. When they go, Polly finds her life is empty and boring. Miserable, they plead to come back - so of course Polly agrees - and they all live happily ever after! This book stands out for its finely detailed and exciting illustrations - they are beautiful and will give readers plenty to discover and delight in.

The Adventures of Sydney Penguin - Elliot, David

Sydney and the sea monster and Sydney and the whalebird are New Zealand classics. Loved by children and adults alike, David Elliot's stunning picture books were first published together in one bumper edition. David Elliot is an internationally acclaimed illustrator, having illustrated the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, as well as a number of other high profile US books. He is also the writer/illustrator of many picture books including Pigtails the Pirate and the Sydney books. He has won Picture Book of the Year at the NZ Post awards.

Mona Minum and the Smell of the Sun - Frame, Janet (Illustrated by David Elliot)

Mona Minim is a house ant about to make her first journey out of the nest. But her excitement at smelling new things, especially the sunlight, turns to terror when one false step plunges her into a quite unexpected adventure.

Watch of Gryphons - Marshell, Owen

The empty tussock dryness of New Zealand's South Island, the ancient stone buildings of Italy's Perugia, unsolved murder, the capricious indignity of Alzheimer's disease, adoption - there is a rich variety of setting and subject in this superb new co...

How To Look At A Painting - Paton, Justin

"A masterpiece. Justin Paton is on par with the best art reviewers anywhere. This book will set your imagination alight" MARTI FRIEDLANDER

New Zealand People & Places: Paintings of everday life from the brush of watercolour artist Paul Hanrahan

This book offers a rare insight into the vision and talents of one of New Zealand's foremost watercolour artists. Paul Hanrahan captures distinctive aspects of New Zealand life; from the quirky to the spectacular, set in backgrounds of both grandeur and the familiar. It is an essential book for New Zealanders at home or abroad and for watercolour lovers everywhere.

The Painted Garden in New Zealand Art - Johnstone, Christopher

From the 1840s to the present day painters have contributed to a treasure trove of lively and vivid depictions of many gardens, both known and anonymous, up and down the country. This collection of 100 paintings by 67 NZ artists, both renowned and unfamiliar, begins with early settler gardens and concludes with some of the best-loved gardens of the present day.

Landscape Paintings of NZ: A Journey from North to South - Johnstone, Christopher

A timely selection of 103 paintings, the book is arranged geographically from the far North to Southland, with familiar and unusual landscape images spanning 140 years of NZ landscape painting. Artists included range from John Gully to Robin White

Etiquette For A Dinner Party - Orr, Sue

Short Stories: An ageing taxi driver reflects on mortality and the choices he has made in life as he indulges in a clandestine Italian feast. The friend of a dying woman delivers a sardonic commentary on the frenetic ritual of cake-baking that precedes death and grief. This stunning collection observes a subtle unravelling of social etiquettes. Often hopeful, always moving, these darkly quirky stories demand the reader's attention beyond the final page.

Book Book- Farrell, Fiona

A war is waged in the Middle East, a woman in Otago has her nose in a book. Kate is immersed in other battles, engrossed in eyewitness accounts of an earlier war in ancient Persia. She has grown up, left NZ and returned, and in all these years books have shaped her life and made sense of the world - offering mystery and solace, entertainment and enlightenment. "Book Book" is another extraordinary offering from the author of "The Hopeful Traveller"