'2 Little Kiwi Birds' by Angela Ayers works well as an educational aid.
'2 Little Kiwi Birds' by Angela Ayers works well as an educational aid.
2 Little Kiwi Birds
By Angela Ayers
Reviewed by Jennifer Baker
2 Little Kiwi Birds and 2 Little Kiwi Birds New Zealand are the first two releases in a series of six books by Palmerston North-born actor and entertainer Angela Ayers.
The former follows two rather excited-looking kiwis (named afterLes and Beryl, to whom the book is dedicated) as they journey across the Tasman, around the world and back to Australia to settle down in the upmarket suburb of Watsons Bay, Sydney.
The latter follows Les and Beryl as they journey through their very own Land of the Long White Cloud, from Northland to Bluff.
The books have a QR code you can scan to download and listen to the accompanying song. The downside of this is you’re obliged to get out a device while you’re reading a book, which I usually try to avoid.
The upside is the tune is pretty simple and catchy, so you can pretty much do it solo after the first listening. This is a double-edged sword; we all know the mental torture of a catchy kids’ tune stuck on repeat.
2 Little Kiwi Birds is marketed as a geographical book with a map of Australia to help your little ones learn the states, territories and cities of Australia. One can assume the New Zealand book shares that intention, though there doesn’t appear to be any statement relating to the fact.
Indeed, the books are furnished with simple maps so parents can provide a visual to go with the various place names included in the book/song. The illustrations also include various landmarks that can be used as a topic of discussion for your kids.
As an educational aid, I think the book works well. My kids love maps and songs, and combining the two seems like a no-brainer.
However, with the educational and the obvious biographical angle of the books aside, there’s something a little unsettling about a children’s book where our national bird decides to settle in an affluent suburb of a foreign country. Perhaps it’s that kiwis are so thoroughly representative of what it means to be a New Zealander, and to love our country in all its wild beauty. To call Watsons Bay heaven seems a little traitorous.
Perhaps that’s why Ayers wrote the second book - 2 Little Kiwi Birds New Zealand seems almost like an apology.
The diction and meter of the books are not particularly captivating; as is often the case with song lyrics, they only sound good as, well, songs. The grammar and rhythm simply don’t work if read.
It shifts randomly between first, second and third person. “We flew across the Tasman Sea / One life you had said he” leaves you wondering who he is, and why you ‘had’ a life, instead of ‘have’ one. Of course, this is not something kids need to get hung up on, but I always say children’s books need to be enjoyable for parents too.
'2 Little Kiwi Birds' New Zealand by Angela Ayers would benefit from including te reo Māori place names.
Overall, the books are a fun way to learn a few place names (though they lack their te reo Māori equivalents) rather than an enjoyable literary experience. They wouldn’t be at all good without the accompanying song, but I’m fairly certain the intention is they go together as one.
Your kids will enjoy the cute pictures of the wee kiwis - my two-year-old was delighted at Les and Beryl’s Volkswagen Kombi, which looked exactly like his toy one - and there is definitely some fun to be had singing along with your toddler.
