Scholastic, 2021Illustrated by Kieran RynhartISBN 9781775433842Shortlisted for the Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards 2021Storylines list of notable books for 2021 A beautiful story centred around the statue of a World War One soldier. The statue describes his own memories of the war, as well as what he has seen from his pedestal as the…
New Holland, 2020ISBN 9781869665395 Dogs have played a central role in the lives of New Zealanders. Whether working farm dogs, police dogs, loyal companions, mascots, little heroes or fictional dogs, they have become a special part of our culture. Our Incredible Dogs: The Stories behind the Statues looks at the dogs that have been memorialised…
Pipi Press, 2020ISBN 978-0-473-52170-7 A deadly disease is sweeping the world and nobody knows how to stop it. Movie theatres and swimming pools are shut and schools are closed. People are discouraged from gathering in large groups at the beach. Twelve-year-old Tom Mitchell can’t even see his best friend Charlie. He wonders when the lockdown…
Pipi Press, 2020ISBN: 978-0-473-52171-4Previous edition named in Storylines list of notable books (2007) Nicholas wants to find one thing that he’s really good at. His friends are all good at something. His annoying next-door neighbour Ruby claims to be good at lots of things. And then there’s Oliver Billington, who always wins everything. Perhaps he’s…
The Wakefields haven’t gone down well in history, more notorious for scandals like Edward Gibbon Wakefield’s abduction of a 15-year-old heiress than celebrated for any of their achievements. Despite the evidence of Point Jerningham, I hadn’t even heard of Edward Jerningham Wakefield (apparently the Wakefield males of Edward’s line all shared the same first name) so I wasn’t…
Pipi Press, 2019ISBN 978047346282Shortlisted for the Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards 2019Fiction Special Mention, NZ Heritage Book Awards 2019Storylines list of notable books for 2020 Fourteen-year-old Beatrice Thomas lives with her widowed mother and younger sister, Tilly, in a small New Zealand town overshadowed by the events of World War One. Many of the…
New Holland, 2019ISBN 9781869664992 Where is Antarctica? Who was the first to discover it? What was the Race to the South Pole? Why did it take so long for women to be allowed to go to Antarctica? How do you get there, and how is it different from the rest of the world? How cold…
NZ Herald, 22 June 2019 See the article here:
Kiwis have always been great explorers of the world, but Ann Balcombe’s adventures are extraordinary even in the context of the freewheeling overland days of the 1970s. Newly graduated and at a loose end, she took a job as deckhand on a yacht sailing from Auckland to the Netherlands across the Pacific and Indian Oceans….
New Holland, 2018ISBN 9781869664787Shortlisted for the Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards 2018Storylines list of notable books for 2019Rev ed: White Cloud Books (an imprint of Upstart Press), 2023ISBN 9781990003936 The New Zealand Wars is a fascinating look at a part of New Zealand’s history and culture that many people feel they don’t know enough…
New Holland, 2016ISBN 9781869664411Storylines list of notable books for 2016 At the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month each year, we remember the end of the First World War. This book commemorates the day when fighting stopped in Europe on 11 November 1918. It covers the final months, weeks and days…
New Holland, 2015ISBN 9781869664213Shortlisted for Children’s choice awards, NZ Post Book Awards 2015Storylines list of notable books for 2016 Aimed at younger readers but providing an excellent resource for the whole family, this book looks at the rich history behind Waitangi Day, universally recognised as New Zealand’s national day. It reviews the historic events behind…
Scholastic, 2014ISBN 9781775431664Storylines list of notable books for 2015 The Auckland Harbour Bridge is under construction. Simon likes watching the bridge being built, and talking to his uncle and his mates about what’s happening on site. Meanwhile, Simon’s best friend Marty is obsessed with the Space Race and his younger sister Jo can’t stop worrying…
New Holland, 2014Illustrated by Bob KerrISBN 9781869664114 The three young soldiers in the story are best friends from school, and they leave New Zealand together to go and fight at Gallipoli. Landing first in Egypt, they travel by ship to Anzac Cove and dig into trenches to fight the Turkish troops holding the peninsula. Conditions…
New Holland, 2013ISBN 9781869663803Shortlisted for the NZ Post Book Awards 2014Shortlisted for the Lianza Book Awards 2014Storylines list of notable books for 2014Rev ed: White Cloud Books (an imprint of Upstart Press), 2023ISBN 9781990003943 The New Zealand Story, what it is and why it matters.The 25th of April is a very special day for New…
Scholastic, 2013ISBN 9781775431473Storylines list of notable books for 2014 For Frances and her family, living on a lighthouse, the war is both far away and scarily close. There are rumours of submarines in the Pacific. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, taken Singapore and bombed Darwin, so what’s to stop them invading New Zealand next?…
ISBN 9781869439705Scholastic, 2010Storylines list of notable books for 2011 Harriet Jasmine Emerald Florence Mabey McDonald (Harry for short) wonders if an imagination is something fast, like a cheetah – in which case it’s not your fault if it runs away with you, because you couldn’t stop it. Or is it something little, like a celebrity’s handbag…
Gilt Edge Publishing, 2006ISBN 187740425X In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill established a secret organisation “to set Europe ablaze!” Discover how the work of British secret agents changed the course of World War Two. Excerpt The SOE (Special Operations Executive) designed and built a whole range of gadgets for their secret agents to use…
Illustrated by Alice BellScholastic, 2004ISBN: 978-1-86943-604-9 In this sequel to The Lost Watch, Henry finds himself in another awkward situation. Last time he took Dad’s new watch to school when he knew he shouldn’t. This time the school is to have a day where all the students are allowed to bring their wheels to school,…
Illustrated by Alice BellScholastic, 2003ISBN: 978-1-86943-566-0 It’s Dad’s birthday but Henry doesn’t have enough money for a present and he’s too old to give Dad one of his own drawings. Mum’s suggestion of one whole squabble-free day doesn’t appeal, so she lends him enough money to buy a ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ pen. Mum’s present to…
Pipi Press is the name of my own imprint, for books I publish myself, and the logo was designed by my daughter Charlotte. When I was choosing a name to publish under, I was learning te reo through Te Ataarangi, and Pipi was my te reo name for those classes. I also like the connection…
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