Rock  
Liz van der Laarse                            

 

Rock  
Liz van der Laarse
One Tree House (2026)
YA Novel
144 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 067 1183 4

 

‘Tama tū tama ora, tama noho tama mate.’
‘To stand is to live. To lie down is to die.’

 Liz Van der Laarse (1957–2025) wrote Cuz (2018), the popular adventure story of two teens using traditional Māori knowledge to survive in Fiordland. Now her companion story, Rock, has been published posthumously, featuring two very different teens facing physical and mental challenges, after a crisis in the Ruahine Range.

 Mac has taken his son, Axl, and his new stepson, Haki, on a fly-fishing and deer-hunting trip in the bush. Mac and Axl have often come here, to the Forks Hut, but this is the first time for Haki. All is not well between the two stepbrothers. Of course, Axl, accustomed to being an only child, resents his new stepbrother and is using his advantages, of being three years older and familiar with the region, to keep making Haki feel unwelcome. Axl uses sharp words and sly punches to reinforce his hostile attitude to Haki.

‘What’s the bro’s problem? Never lets up. Always got to have a go,’ thinks Haki. Yet there are moments when we see the real Axl shine through his cross-grained behaviour on this outing.

 Haki gets on well with Mac as they share their flyfishing expertise, but problems arise after Mac leaves the boys at the hut for a day while he goes off to shoot a deer. Axl takes every opportunity to make Haki miserable while the pair are tramping through the bush to visit some limestone caves.  A huge landslide blocks their path and leaves Axl with an injured ankle. Things become even more serious when a very different crisis means that Mac’s life is endangered. How can they get help? Can Haki overcome his inner fears? Can the mismatched pair cope with the challenges facing them to save their father’s life? No spoilers but the concluding chapters are the best part of the story.

 As a teacher, Liz van der Laarse knew how to write in a way that is appealing to reluctant readers. Her prose pulls readers in. She makes her sentences short and keeps the dialogue snappy. She lets the characters display their own personalities through their words and actions. She also provides plenty of action so that, for example, on the very first page, Axl is already pushing Haki into a creek.    

The descriptions of the rivers, bush and weather conditions are neatly sketched in, often with a strong impact.

 Here are the quietly sinister words which end Chapter 6. It is morning and Haki is emerging from an overnight camp on an unfamiliar mountainside: ‘Haki pulled on his damp coat and leggings, squeezed past the packs and into a thick wall of white cloud. Gone were the craggy peaks of the tops, the tussock. He could no longer see the forest below, the paddocks beyond. The world, te ao tūroa, had disappeared.’

The next page simply demands to be turned.

 

 The characters often use Māori words and phrases (even Axl) and there are many events involving Māori culture, customary behaviour and traditional knowledge.  Overseas readers will find that most of the Māori words can easily be worked out from context, but a useful Te Reo Māori Glossary, as well as a translation of the Māori proverbs used by Haki, is provided.  

The brilliant cover design is by Vida Kelly.

 Trevor Agnew

10 Nov 2026  [Review 3884.]

CUZ
Liz Van der Laarse
  

CUZ
Liz Van der Laarse
Novel
One Tree House

Paperback (2018)
ISBN 978 0 47342 188 5

  

‘Yeah, yeah, rub it in. I know everything. You know nothing.’

Fourteen-year-old River is resentful of his cousin Huia and her knowledge of things Māori. The absence of River’s father, Hemi, has deprived him of the chance to learn this part of his heritage and he feels ashamed of his ignorance. Since the story follows River’s viewpoint, we are always aware of his thoughts and emotions.

Uncle Tau is taking his fishing boat from Riverton up the West Coast to Westport to have the engine replaced, and he offers to take Huia and River along for the trip. Trouble strikes when a fuel explosion sinks the boat. Only River and Huia make it to the shore. They realise they will have to survive for several days before a search even starts. Huia refuses to let River gather mussels (because her father’s death makes the sea tapu). Instead she promises to find autumn berries that will keep them both alive.
The forest will provide.
They find a water source and various berries but an injury makes their position even more perilous. They have to meet such basic needs as shelter, as well as a way to signal any future rescue groups.
They’ll be looking for a trawler, won’t they … not two kids in a forest.
The traditional knowledge Huia has gained from her Nan helps them to start a fire, while River knows how to capture koura (freshwater crayfish). Huia makes an eel-trap and the pair try catching a weka. A much more important challenge awaits them, however. Can they walk out to civilisation? Huia believes they will be guided by the spirit of their ancestral Takitimu canoe, represented by the Takitimu Mountains, but even more perils await them on their arduous journey.

This novel, by the author of Not Even (2002) and Trouble Patch (2003), has the same pattern of short sentences, snappy dialogue, simple characterisation and fast action. This makes Cuz easy to read, and appealing to reluctant readers. It makes a strong argument for the value of Māori traditional knowledge. There is a liberal use of Māori words, which can easily be worked out from context, as when Tau says of Whetu, his fishing boat, she may be iti but she’s brought home koura for us year after year.
[iti = small; koura = crayfish; whetu = star]

A good Māori glossary is provided, as well as a set of survival tips. There is also a helpful diagram of the native plants used as food sources in the story.
The end-papers have a colour map of the Fiordland region of the South Island, showing the route of the Whetu’s ill-fated voyage from Riverton.

Trevor Agnew
22 Jan 2020

 

 

Gruffalo Granny             
Julia Donaldson 
Ill. Axel Scheffler

 

Gruffalo Granny 
Julia Donaldson 
ill. Axel Scheffler
Macmillan (2026)
Picture book
32 pages, Hardback
ISBN 978 1 0374 0872 4

 

‘The Gruffalo said to his daughter one day’
“Your Gruffalo Granny is coming to stay.”’

 Like good wine, a Gruffalo book needs no bush. Generations have been raised on The Gruffalo (1999) and The Gruffalo’s Child (2004). Now we have the pleasure of Gruffalo Granny (2026) which shows that good things are worth waiting for.

 The Gruffalo is very proud of Granny Gruffalo.

‘Her fur is grey and her prickles are red.
She’s very bright – she can read and write!
And she has an ENORMOUS appetite.’

 Before Granny arrives at the family cave, the gruffalo and his daughter decide to search ‘the deep dark wood’ for stew ingredients. There’s a lovely ritual interplay as each of the very familiar animals selected for the pot suggests a better candidate for stewing purposes. First up is the fox.

‘I’m certain that Granny likes foxtail soup,’ says the gruffalo, but the crafty fox suggests owl pizza instead. The owl’s counter-proposal is ‘snake with strawberry sauce.’  The snake, of course, nominates the only possible animal for a gruffalo to eat.

‘Not so,’ said the snake. ‘I thought you knew
That grandmothers always adore mouse stew.’

 In a trice, the little brown mouse is in a cage, while the gruffalo and his daughter are popping carrots into their steaming cauldron. When the gruffalo moves to add the mouse to the stew, the mouse puts on a Scheherazade-like expression and asks, ‘But wouldn’t you like a story first?’

 Every reader knows what to expect – the mouse will always outwit the gruffalo but it is wonderful to see the detail of how he does it. The two gruffalos are entranced by the stories and put off cooking him so they can hear the ending.

‘But you’re yawning. Tomorrow I’ll tell you the rest.’

Because the mouse is telling stories by night and sleeping by day, the gruffalo and his daughter have time on their paws. They use it gathering more vegetables for Granny’s stew.

‘A cabbage, some leeks and a turnip or two.’

 The ending, with the arrival of Granny, is both traditional and a surprise. There is a happy conclusion for everyone, even the mouse.

 People have been reading the Gruffalo books for decades, but Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have also produced many other titles together. Most young (and some old) readers of Gruffalo Granny will be delighted to find subtle references to several of these stories hiding in plain sight in these pages. [Hint for puzzled parents and grandparents: Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale, Stickman, Monkey Puzzle. - T.A.] Of course, book-loving Granny’s habit of jotting down story ideas to retell means that the mouse may find his tales appearing elsewhere. Careful scrutiny of the last picture, however, shows that the mouse is doing berry well out of his visit to the gruffalo cave.  

 Illustrator Axel Scheffler has packed his charming colour illustrations with all his usual amusing details. When the mouse tells his stories, they appear as sets of circular cameos. Particularly enjoyable are the animals peeking out from the trees and bushes, not to mention the birds and bats which fly out of the story and across the endpapers.

 Grandma Gruffalo is a welcome visitor who has come to stay.

 

Trevor Agnew
10 Nov 2026  [Review 3875.]

Beanstalk  H.P. Fryer     

   

 

Beanstalk
H.P. Fryer (text & ill.)
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
36 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 7590 003 2

 

Don’t let the title put you off. This is not a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk. Although a wee bit of it is. And it is not about fairy stories and magic. Although it is a wee bit.

 This picture book is the story of five generations of highland cattle. (Well, it’s not really.) It’s actually a marvellous story about storytelling.

‘One spring, a little calf was born. His mum called him Bo. Bo lived in the field with his mum, and Nanny Pat (his mum’s mum) and Nana Bertha (his mum’s mum’s mum) and Old Nan (his mum’s mum’s mum’s mum.)’

 All this means that Old Nan is Bo’s great-great-grandmother, who can remember things that everyone else has forgotten long ago. Bo loves listening to her stories about how their field used to have a magic forest and strange things happened there.

‘Did you know how I jumped over the moon once?’ she’d say.

Old Nan’s stories sometimes seem a little familiar, especially to young readers. (The title page illustration is a helpful reminder for adults who have memory slips.)

‘Did you know I was once sold for three magic beans?’

As the seasons pass we see the various groups of other animals on the farm growing up. Bo even develops a tiny pair of horns. Searching for the magic Old Nan often talks about, Bo discovers a golden object. Is it the farmer’s missing gold tooth? Old Nan is tired but enthusiastic.

‘Whoopee! That’s magic, my boy! That’s a magic bean! You plant it and see what happens.’

Bo buries the bean and autumn turns to winter. ‘In winter, nothing grew and the trees were bare.’

 In spring a shoot emerges and soon a huge plant is growing taller and taller, as the cattle look on. (There’s a designer’s surprise at this point in the book which hints at magic and adventure.)

 Beautiful little blue flowers grow up all around the huge beanstalk. Nan tells Bo, ‘Every spring, when these flowers bloom, they will remind you of your Old Nan and her stories. In fact, I think it’s time for my next adventure. I might just climb up that beanstalk. Tonight. Imagine that!’

 

Bo can’t imagine it. ‘Cows can’t climb. We don’t even have thumbs!’

 What follows is a very touching modern fable, a treatment of acceptance of the death of a loved one in a simple and moving narrative. This is an endearing, enchanting story with a satisfying message.

 H.P. [Hannah] Fryer has created pictures which match her prose for their simplicity, grace and storytelling power. Every page is a charming painting of the highland cattle in their field, throughout the changing seasons. Small details, such as Old Nan’s blue headscarf, become important elements of the storytelling magic which happens in these pictures. There are also tiny details to reward the careful reader. When Bo buries the bean, we can see that there is an old crown and a hand-mirror lying far deeper in the soil; a worm is admiring itself in the mirror.

 The moving final pages bring completion to Old Nan’s life and they also bring some comfort to Bo, who is able to accept that she has left the field forever. Whether she climbed the beanstalk is for the reader to decide.

 Trevor Agnew
9 Nov 2026  [Review 3882.] 

A Happy Cappy Christmas Elaine Bickell

 

A Happy Cappy Christmas                                           
Elaine Bickell
Ill. Minky Stapleton
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
24 pages, Paperback:
ISBN 978 1 77543 997 4
24 pages, Hardback:
ISBN 978 1 75990 005 6

 

This may be the world’s first picture book to feature capybaras. A Happy Cappy Christmas is the tale of a herd of six capybaras and how they cope with pre-Christmas expectations, told in rhyming couplets by Elaine Bickell. In researching the collective noun for capybaras, I found a biology analysis which seemed to sum up this story: “Capybaras are a highly social species, rarely seen alone, and exhibit complex group behaviours central to their survival.” – BiologyInsights.com.

 The Cappys are a family of six capybara siblings, although only one has a name at first: Bossy. She’s the one wearing a halo. Bossy by name, bossy by nature, she is warning her five younger siblings:

“But you’ve all been very NAUGHTY. Santa watches what you do.
So you’ll all be on his NAUGHTY LIST -  every one of you!”

 Their potential Naughty List entries certainly seem daunting:

“A little bit of pushing. A cappy in the lake.
A teddy being taken. A stolen slice of cake.”

They’ve even left a copy of Keith Goes Glam under the table!

 Bossy suggests her frisky siblings can redeem themselves by putting up the Christmas decorations.

Although they say, “we’ll prove how good we are,” the Cappys are soon busy with yuletide mischief, wrapping their heads in tinsel and hanging tree decorations from their ears.

Full of remorse, the five beg for a second chance. Bossy says they can help her make the Christmas pudding but, alas, they have scoffed all the ingredients. Worse, they have also been at the advent calendar:

“All the doors are open! All the chocolate’s gone!”

 Infuriated with the behaviour of her repeat-offender siblings, Bossy is disappointed to find that there are presents under the tree for them. “A gift for every Cappy! How can this be true?”  

[At this point sharp-eyed readers will spot the labels and find that the five’s names are Tardy, Hairy, Itchy, Hungry and Baby. I blame the parents.]

 The events which follow Bossy’s discovery of Santa’s magnanimous behaviour are ironic, funny, and eventually prove that fair shares and forgiveness apply to every capybara, even if her name is Bossy.

 Minky Stapleton’s colour illustrations are marvellous, especially the texture of the herd’s fur and whiskers.  And their expressions. The capybaras emerge as mischievous individuals of a type familiar to every parent. The result is a gentle family fable for Christmas.

 Trevor Agnew
28 Oct  2026  [Review 3881]

PS  Penny Scown has kindly pointed out a number of picture books about capybaras and their frolics. Thus, my first sentence is kaput. The book is still fine. TA

 

Bert the Dinosnore  Deano Yipadee,   

Chris Collin 
Ill. Herb MacDonald

 

 Bert the Dinosnore                        
Deano Yipadee
Chris Collin
Ill. Herb MacDonald
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
24 pages, Paperback:
ISBN 978 1 75990 000 1
24 pages, Hardback:
ISBN 978 1 75990 008 7

 

‘It was Bertie Boppit’s birthday, but he was fast asleep!
He dozed through his alarm clock – BEEP! – BEEP! – BEEP!’

 Where do dinosaurs sleep? Tucked up on a dino-pattern pillow, with a teddy bear. At least that’s how Herb MacDonald has drawn him.  Writers Deano Yipadee (creator of the Nee Naw series) and Chris Collin (creator of the Funky Chicken series) have discovered a new dinosaur. Bert the Dinosnore is large, green and sleep-addicted.

 A range of dinosaurs have gathered to celebrate Bert’s birthday but the birthday-boy is sound asleep. Nobody can wake him up. Nanny tries shouting without a result. Rex (a short-tempered tyrannosaurus, with a plumbing business) brings out a toilet plunger and fits it onto Bert’s head.

‘He pushed and he pulled till his little arms hurt,
then, together, he and Nanny yelled, ‘WAKE UP BERT!’

 The next steps Bert’s friends take include loud music from a dinosaur orchestra, fireworks, and a rock band performance  complete with floodlights and screaming dinosaur fans.

‘WAKE UP BERT!’

 Tired after their exhausting activities, almost all the dinosaurs fall asleep on the spot. The only one still awake is Nanny, who is still seated in her purple armchair quietly sewing. Then she nods off and something surprising follows which leads to a suitably funny ending.

 The authors have produced a story which can either be read aloud or sung. The chorus, ‘WAKE UP BERT!’is printed in large purple letters to ensure young readers join in the noise.

 Herb MacDonald’s colour illustrations are full of hilarious details. Bert’s pillow has a pattern of little pink dinosaurs. When the leaf-blower is switched on, Tyrannosaurus Rex’s trousers are blown away. A mighty blast from the trombonist then strips Rex naked, with only his ‘little arms’ to cover himself.  (Some young reader will be sharp enough to spot that the other 97% of the dinosaurs in this story are also naked! Rex must be a very sensitive tyrannosaurus.)

 This is a marvellous book for reading aloud (and we do mean ALOUD).

 The roar-along song, Bert the Dinosnore, can be streamed, or else a video performance can be viewed on Deano Yipadee’s website at www.yipadee.com. It can also be heard on Youtube.

 

Trevor Agnew

28 Oct 2026  [Review 3880.]

Roadworks! The Big Book of Transport

 

                                                

 

Roadworks! The Big Book of Transport   

Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock

 

Roadworks!
The Big Book
of Transport
Walker (2026)
Picture book
96 pages, Hardback
ISBN 978 1 761603 48 8

 This collection really earns its exclamation mark. It brings together three marvellous read-aloud books from which generations of children have enjoyed chorusing, ‘Bang! Clang! Crack!’ and even ‘Crash Roar! Thump!’ Those sounds are a wrecking ball knocking down an old building and a tip-truck dumping a load of stones for a new road, respectively. The three books are Roadworks (2008), Demolition (2012) and Construction (2014).

There are two award-winning creators involved. Sally Sutton writes the verses and provides the onomatopoiea:

‘Mark the road. Mark the road. Give the paint a squirt.
Paint the lines in, nice and straight. Whizz! Splop! Splurt!’
 

Brian Lovelock is the artist who provides the well-loved pictures of heavy machinery and the hi-vis-coated women and men who operate them. Cranes, road-rollers, scrapers, excavators, bulldozers and tip-trucks all roar across the pages to the joyous recognition of young readers. 

‘Clang! Crunch! Crack!’

 Re-reading these books, I was struck by how cleverly each of the three ends.

Roadworks shows the construction of a highway from the first pegs in the ground to the switching-on of the lights and the planting of roadside greenery. It ends with a school bus driving along the brand-new road, with happy children waving out the windows.

Demolition, as its title suggests, is about knocking down and clearing away an old building. The final pages show recovered material being used for new purposes and finally the site becomes a new playground. ‘Run and climb and play … Hip Hip Hooray!’’

Construction begins with driving in the piles for a new building and gives a vivid idea of the complexity of the stages of construction. The story’s climax comes with the revelation that the wonderful new structure is a library. It fills with young readers.

‘Choose your books. Choose your books. Borrow all you need.
The library’s here for everyone. Ready … Steady … READ!’

Best of all, every page acknowledges the people who do the work, especially in the double-page, child’s-eye-level portrait of five roadbuilders enjoying their lunch-break. ‘Sandwiches and drinks and fruit. Gulp! Slurp! Crunch!’

 But wait there’s more. The compendium ends with four pages of ‘Machine Facts’ providing a crane-spotter’s guide to graders and trucks, as well as eleven richly-illustrated pages of road-working puzzles and observation games.

 At 96 pages, Roadworks! The Big Book of Transport is a hefty volume (650 grams) but there will be plenty of parents and grandparents willing to pull their weight in the fun of shared reading. The designer has thoughtfully provided rounded corners so no readers will be injured while enjoying this book

‘Heave-ho! Phew!’

 Trevor Agnew
9 Nov 2026  [Review 3878.]

Baby's book of KIWI ANIMALS

 

Baby’s book of KIWI ANIMALS 
Sandra Morris  Nicolette Treanor

 

Baby’s book of KIWI ANIMALS
 Sandra Morris 
Ill. Nicolette Treanor
Walker Books (2026)
Board book, 26 pages
ISBN 978 1 761603 47 1

 ‘Out in the sun, gecko basks. Under the rocks, giant wētā hides.’

This eye-catching board-book is described as ‘a high-contrast sensory book for babies.’  This refers to the dramatic black-and-white illustrations, silhouettes of New Zealand creatures. Appearing as solid blocks of black or white, such creatures as the kiwi, cicada, kina, wrybill and butterfly really stand out. Research shows young babies’ eyes respond to these contrasting images. Each picture is surrounded by a frame of repeating patterns designed to help babies develop their visual acuity. The patterns also mark the different environments the creatures on their section live in: the mountains, the forest the wetlands and the seashore.

 Sandra Morris has written a brief text for parents to read aloud as they share the pictures with their young readers-to-be: ‘From the ridge top, kākāpō booms.  Over the moss, giant land snail slides.’

 As a hint to the babies, many of the animals, like the frog and the tuatara are shown sleeping or resting. ‘Inside the cave, bat slumbers.’ One of a group of dozing bats has just opened his eye. The many eyes seen in this book are perfect black circles, sure to catch a baby’s eye.   

 Another satisfying feature of this well-thought-out board-book is that the corners are rounded, not sharp.

In every sense, this book is one that is safe to put into a baby’s hands.

‘Into the depths, sea lion plunges. Goodnight, sea lion.’

 Trevor Agnew
7 Nov 2026  Review 3879