The best new and noticed kids’ picture books picked out. Photo / Getty Images
The best new and noticed kids’ picture books picked out. Photo / Getty Images
Ann Packer picks out the best new and noticed kids’ picture books.
Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike, by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (Nosy Crow, $27.99)
I fell in love with this mismatched pair the first time around (counting to 100 by way of knitting). Frank’sa fox, Bert his much bigger, bearish friend. A similar trail of disaster for preschoolers to follow sees the learner rider teetering over tails, in and out of puddles, and around piles of autumn leaves in the same landscape. A stunning tale of friendship that ticks a lot of boxes – with a twist at the end for kids to spot.
Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike, by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros. Photo / Supplied
You’re So Amazing!, by James & Lucy Catchpole & Karen George (Faber, $27.99)
Joe knows he’s amazing. With only one leg, he must use crutches; adults are forever telling him how awesome he is. It gets a bit boring, tbh. But kids being kids, his friends – a veritable United Nations – help set the record straight. Disability is normal. What makes this book work is that its authors are both disabled – though their two preschoolers are not. (And Lucy’s blogs are hilarious. Who knew disability could be such fun?)
You’re So Amazing!, by James & Lucy Catchpole & Karen George. Photo / Supplied
Look: A Tummy Time Book, by Gavin Bishop (Gecko, $24.99)
A perfect new baby gift, ready for when an infant starts to lift their head. This robust accordion board book, with 24 images in the style of Mihi, Koro and E Hoa – a dozen heads of every race and creed on one side, and objects such as doll, ball, keys and truck on the other – is a wordless gem that will easily prop open on a rug, ready to interact with the little one. A big clap for Vida Kelly, whose clever design saw this voted one of the top 100 picture books at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair this year.
Look: A Tummy Time Book, by Gavin Bishop. Photo / Supplied
Matariki, by Gavin Bishop (PRH, $15.99)
Also from Bishop, the simplest of board books to make Matariki understandable for the youngest readers. Elegant and eloquent, it introduces the eight stars with brief phrases encapsulating the qualities of each star in te reo and English, with images illustrating their essence. Every home with kids should have one.
Matariki, by Gavin Bishop. Photo / Supplied
There Was an Odd Farmer Who Swallowed a Fly, by Peter Millett & Paul Beavis (Puffin, $21)
Just when you thought it had been milked for all it was worth, this variation on the old woman who swallowed a spider comes out with a wild Kiwi version, incorporating a whole lot of reo in its holey pages. Millett’s rhyming text pairs words like sweater and wētā, fly and kai, while Beavis’s inspired take on the tale – set on a couch with the sheep narrating – allows for details that might have got lost down on the farm.
There Was an Odd Farmer Who Swallowed a Fly, by Peter Millett & Paul Beavis. Photo / Supplied
Violet’s Scarf, by Colleen Brown & Emma Lay (Colleen Brown, $25)
An eight-year-old knits a scarf for the war effort – this being 1914 or so. She hates the muddy brown wool, so sneaks in some blue. She wraps it in brown paper tied with red wool. After a very long trip, the parcel arrives in France. And guess who catches it? You could not make this up – but it’s based on a true story. George Cloughley came home to Riverton, in Southland. Violet married and had four children. The scarf was destroyed in a fire, but the label is in the Hocken Library. Precious.
Violet’s Scarf, by Colleen Brown & Emma Lay. Photo / Supplied
Grandpa and the Kingfisher, by Anna Wilson & Sarah Massini (Nosy Crow, $27.99)
A child visiting the riverbank with puppy and Grandpa follows the life cycle of these colourful birds (84 species worldwide) as they mate, nest in a clay bank and hatch their chicks. As time goes by, the birds fly off, puppy grows and Grandpa becomes increasingly stooped. “That’s the way it goes,” says Grandpa. “Nature goes on like this. Nature goes on forever.” The next year, spring comes early; the child is alone, with Grandpa’s dinghy, hat – and remembered words. A gentle picture book about life cycles – not only of kingfishers, but also of humans.
Grandpa and the Kingfisher, by Anna Wilson & Sarah Massini. Photo / Supplied
Kererū, by Glenda Kane & Lisa Allen (Bateman, $24.99)
The life cycle of our native pigeon is laid out in this attractive production, with timely warnings about predators as well as the good news – the handsome bird itself holds the secret to habitat survival, with seeds for new trees pre-packaged in its poo to speed growth. The rhyming text reads easily; the message is clear: “When the winner is nature, the winner is you.”
Kererū, by Glenda Kane & Lisa Allen. Photo / Supplied
Rustle!, by Donovan Bixley (Little Moa, $24.99)
Sixteen trees and plants star in this introduction to Aotearoa’s native flora, each entry combining facts about distribution, cultivation, size and traditional usage. He tells us why mānuka takes over newly cleared land, how the tap roots of the cabbage tree were chewed like sugar cane by Māori on the move, and warns about wasps, among other hazards.
Rustle!, by Donovan Bixley. Photo / Supplied
What a Day, by Emma Ballantine & Mark Strepan ill Harriet Hobday (Frances Lincoln, $17.99)
It’s a special time of the day, that winding down to bedtime – including books, of course. The recap of the day’s activities featured in this “mindful moment for bedtime” is something we did intuitively when our kids were young; it’s reassuring to find the practice encapsulated in this calming picture book. Advice about sleep routines from specialist Andrea Grace adds a practical afternote.
What a Day, by Emma Ballantine & Mark Strepan ill Harriet Hobday. Photo / Supplied
