This father and daughter creation sets out to make you laugh and it succeeds. It is aimed at primary and Intermediate readers particularly reluctant readers who want something short and funny. Set in the year 2050 when some people cannot stop farting and society takes up the challenge and confines them all to bad smell hotels where the inmates all wear breathing apparatus to fend off the evil smells. Why has this come to pass? The World that humans have created is ruled by robots who do everything. Humans do not need to leave the couch, they can send their avatars out to do all the enquiring ..read more

This is the sort of book you wish you never had to publish but alas you do. Some humans can be very bad and abuse children in a way that damages them for life. This book gives vital information to children that helps them trust their own instincts and know what to do if abuse occurs or already has occurred. This book is structured in a way so that only a few pages need to be read at a time and there is scope for children to process key messages and ask questions. The key aims are for children to understand that their bodies are a Toanga (treasure) and they have a right to privacy. How to reco ..read more

The boy in the red pants that show a good view of his crack are in a cross country race but they are not doing well. His bum is too slow. The boy wants to win and realises he has to use his secret weapon, cabbage and peas, to spark up his bum and get a competitive edge. He dreams of being a world class runner with his bum, running all over the World through city streets, around lakes, in the desert and in cold places with his bum and cabbage and peas. But first there is the cross country race to win. As usual Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird wring out the humour from each situation. The latest ..read more

After reading this brilliant biography, in poetic verse, of Iris Wilkinson aka Robin Hyde I read that it finished runner up in the Laura Solomon Book Award and I thought gee the winner must have been outstanding. It was and it was Between the Flags by Rachel Fenton and is also reviewed on this blog. Iris Wilkinson was a very resilient young woman who died in London just before WW2 while seeking to earn money so she could support her secretly born son who was being fostered in New Zealand. It was tragic that women in NZ at that time received no benefit from the state even though they paid tax ..read more

Robin Hyde was a New Zealand poet and journalist who retired to an island in the Marlborough Sounds to hide the fact that she had given birth to a son out of wedlock in the late 1920’s. Her son was named Derek or Derry and this book was given to him in a Xmas stocking when he was 4 years old. She hoped it would be published one day and before Derry died aged 90 in 2021 he gave permission for it to be published and so it has been with beautiful illustrations by Dine. I have a great deal of difficulty reading these days as I await surgery for cataracts but over the past 4 days I have read a lit ..read more

I am sorry to say i cannot do any reviews at the moment because I cannot read. I have cataracts in my eyes which are to be removed sometime this month. I have a pile of books to review then. Cheers Bob Docherty ..read more

An easy to read picture book on the boyhood life of arguably New Zealand’s finest scientist Ernest Rutherford. Aimed at primary and intermediate age children the picture book part of this publication looks at an ordinary boy growing up in small town New Zealand in a family of 14 children. Young Ernest played rugby was fascinated by lightening and the world of science and failed early exams as he sought scholarships for higher learning. He persisted and was ultimately successful and became one of the mist revered scientists alongside the likes of Einstein, Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday and Mar ..read more

PUBLISHED MARCH 2023 What happens when you Die? is a question often asked by children. This explanation from the world of Maori culture is sensitively told and illustrated in this picture book for everybody. Anahera has died and as she lies on the marae she wakes from a deep sleep but feels like” she was there, but not there at the same time”. She sees her whanau and friends celebrating her life and she remembers “all the things she had done and the moments she shared”. After three days she is away skimming over the land to Te Rerenga waiua or Cape Reinga. This is a place of spirit and believ ..read more

The history of Rock ‘n roll is a gateway into how society has changed over the years. This autobiography of Ronnie Spector not only tells her story and that of the Ronettes but throws light on what was happening in society especially the civil rights movement from the early 1960’s onwards. It also tells the story of one of the greatest rock ‘n roll songs ever Be my Baby. Ronnie Bennett was born of Afro Cherokee mother and white European father and grew up in Spanish Harlem New York a mixed race community and home of the great Apollo Theatre. She was neither black nor white and struggled with t ..read more

This comprehensive guide to the plants and animals of the New Zealand seashore will become the definitive work on this subject for use in schools and for those interested in this subject. It is a quality publication with a strong cover and is designed for study and just flicking through because it is fascinating. Every plant and animal portrayed has its anatomical name plus Maori name where available and the information is simply displayed and very readable for primary children to adults. New Zealand has over 15,000kms of coastline, some inaccessible but most available to people. The study of ..read more