The Dragon at the Zoo  Melanie Koster  Craig Phillips

 

The  Dragon at the Zoo   
Melanie Koster, ill. Craig Phillips
Scholastic (2026)
ISBN 978 1 77543 979 0 

 

 

I had the pleasure of reading Melanie Koster’s Elephant Park (2024) to a group of Christchurch pre-schoolers. They were remarkably receptive to it, not just because it is a good story but also because they had all played on the fibreglass elephant in the nearby park and saw it as their elephant. And, of course, their story.

 

 

The same happy link seems bound to boost the deserved popularity of Melanie Koster’s latest picture book, The Dragon at the Zoo. It tells the story of Cedric, a zoo dragon that children love to play on. When some zoo animals cast doubts on whether Cedric is a real dragon, his feelings are hurt and he flies away. The children miss him. Can he be persuaded to return to the zoo?

 

 

The bonus is that Auckland Zoo really does have a dragon. Made of concrete and chicken wire by Cedric Storey [note the name] in the 1950s, this fifteen-metre-long dragon has been played on by generations of children.

 

In Melanie Koster’s charming story, a small girl named Tig is an admirer of Cedric. ‘You’re a spectacular dragon,’ Tig says while she is lolling on his huge tongue.  Cedric is happy to be living in the zoo and amusing the children.

 

 

‘I’ve lived in a meadow, a matchbox and under the bonnet of a librarian’s car but I think the zoo is the nicest home I’ve ever found,’ Cedric declares. [The reference is to Margaret Mahy’s The Lion in the Meadow]

 

Unfortunately, several zoo creatures (including a lace monitor lizard an eastern water dragon) declare Cedric a fake dragon.  ‘You’re just a pretend dragon.’ Only Tig defends him, so Cedric decides that it is time for him to fly somewhere else. With Tig on his back, shouting, ‘Yahoo!’ Cedric flies over the landmarks of Auckland and vanishes into the emerald hills.

 

Craig Phillips has created colour illustrations which bring Cedric to magnificent life, complete with silver scales and flowing beard. The pictures are all richly-detailed with handsome animals, plants, birds and reptiles. A striking feature of the illustrations is that as soon as Cedric leaves, all the colours fade, making the world a drab place. This matches the gloomy mood of the people and creaures left behind. ‘The children were upset, the staff were worried that they might lose their jobs …’’

 

Then the repentant dragonfly has a bright idea. She calls on all the birds to help. Craig Phillips has produced amazing scenes of a great gathering of birds, wheeling in the sky.

 

 

Can they bring Cedric (and Tig) back?  Young readers will already know the answer to Melanie Koster’s question. It’s as certain as the large concrete dragon in Auckland Zoo’s playground.

 

The design of this handsome book is by Vida Kelly.

 

 

Trevor Agnew 

10 Apr 2026 [Review 3831]

 

The Gavin Bishop Treasury 
 Gavin Bishop 

The Gavin Bishop Treasury Gavin Bishop 
 Puffin/ Penguin Random House (2024) 
Hardback, Picture book collection, 256 pages 
ISBN 978 1 77695 738 5 

This splendid collection brings together five of Gavin Bishop’s original picture books and five of his retellings of classic tales. All of course are illustrated by Gavin Bishop. 

The ten books which make up this collection are all as colourful and dramatic as when they were originally published. They are: 

1. Mrs McGinty and the Bizarre Plant (1981) 

2. Bidibidi (1982) 

3. Mr Fox (1982) 

4. Chicken Licken (1984) 

5. A Apple Pie (1984) 

6. The Three Little Pigs (1989) 

7. Little Rabbit and the Sea (1997) 

8. Stay Awake, Bear! (2000) 

9. The Three Billy-Goats Gruff (2003) 

10. Rats! (2007) 

This collection introduces a new generation to Gavin Bishop’s inspired storytelling and pictorial genius.

Trevor Agnew 
16 October 2024 [Review 3724]

Spider Games: 
In the City of Spies 
Brian Falkner

Spider Games: In the City of Spies 
 Bateman Books (2026) 
 Novel, Paperback, 280 pages 
 ISBN 978-1-77-689-167-2 

What happens to an ordinary Kiwi teenager who is suddenly tossed into a world of espionage, violence and murder? Nick is 15 and his autism makes him socially awkward and shy but he does his best to ‘act normal’. It is 1987 and Nick, the story’s narrator, is accompanying his Grandpa Joe on a trip to Germany in order to spread Grandma Josie’s ashes in her homeland. As they enter the Hotel Adlon, the reader will realise that Nick notices everything. He even counts the chairs and tables in the lobby. More significantly, Nick spots a man who is paying close attention to his grandfather. 

Mystery deepens as Grandpa Joe leads Nick deep into the back streets of Berlin. Nick is puzzled when Grandpa Joe keeps looking in shop windows. ‘I’ve noticed he’s not really looking through the window, but at the reflection of the footpath and road behind us. But why?’ 

 Readers of Brian Falkner’s Katipo Joe series of wartime espionage adventures will have recognised Joe as a successful spy back in the days of Nazi Germany. Nick learns of his grandfather’s war service with amazement: ‘Grandpa Joe killed his first person at the age of fourteen and his second, a Gestapo agent, at fifteen.’ Years have passed but there are plenty of people in Berlin who remember Joe. To Nick’s horror, Grandpa Joe suddenly vanishes. Has he been kidnapped? Because of his keen observation skills, Nick uncovers his grandfather’s hiding place for his tradecraft equipment. Assisted by a young local waitress, Rejhana, Nick begins to search for Joe but soon finds they are being pursued by very persistent and menacing people. An alarming chase across the icy rooftops of Berlin is only the beginning of Nick and Rejhana’s perils. 

Brian Falkner’s novel is fast-moving and full of action, with a cast of ruthless killers in hot pursuit of the two teenagers. Nick finds he has unexpected resourcefulness and Rejhana (survivor of a Serbian massacre) has hidden depths. Together they show initiative and courage in their efforts to save Joe’s life. While Spider Games is full of violent encounters, there are also some very funny moments in the story, many of them the result of Nick’s nervousness around self-assured people. When he first encounters Rejhana, Nick is calm and confident while he is correcting her quadratic equations but bungles all his attempts at normal conversation. Hoping to praise her pigtails, he says, ‘I like your piglets!’ (In a moving foreword, written in Berlin, Brian Falkner describes his own experience of autism and adds, ‘I wondered how I would react if it was my actual teenage self in one of those daring adventures? I wrote Spider Games to find out.’) 

Young readers who like this story of spying and double agents will find that each chapter heading is the wittily altered title of other tales of espionage, which they can enjoy once they have decoded titles ranging from ‘The Night of the Jackal’ to ‘The Spy who Stayed out in the Cold.’ 

 Trevor Agnew 
24 Jan 2026 [Review 3816]

 

Susan Brocker Eye of the Dragon              

 

Eye of the Dragon                  
Susan Brocker
Scholastic (2025)
Young novel.
Paperback, 120 pages
ISBN 978 1 77543 686 7
Ill. Isobel Joy Te Aho-White

 

 Thomas (13) has problems. Not only does he stutter when he’s stressed but he also faces bullying at school. Ever since a fishing accident with his father, he has had a mortal fear of the sea. His new step-father, Tim, doesn’t like him.  Sometimes it seems that Thomas’s only friends are his classmate Huhana and his dog Lucy. Walking on the beach with Lucy, Thomas investigates some strange noises and lights in a cave. What he finds is an injured dragon, which reminds him of a song his mother used to sing to him. [Hint: Google ‘Puff the Magic Dragon lyrics’]

When Thomas tells Huhana about the dragon, she decides it must be a taniwha, so Thomas (and the reader) learn about taniwha and their eating habits. Huhana helps Thomas to gather food (kumara and vegetation) for Puff, as Thomas has named the dragon. Thomas treats the dragon’s injuries, pulling out the branch which had impaled her. Then he finds Puff can communicate with him. It is the beginning of an unusual partnership.

Susan Brocker is a skilled writer, so she keeps the tensions between Thomas and the school bullies rising. There are also some lively comic moments. For example, it turns out that dragons are frightened of mice.

 Susan Brocker’s descriptions are gems. Thomas is enthralled by how soft Puff’s hide feels when he is perched on her neck. ‘Even though she had a coat of green scales, they were soft like silky peacock feathers.’

 There are also some subtle hints embedded in this exciting, fast-moving story. (Young readers will soon work out their significance.) Thomas seems to lose his stutter when he is around Puff. Huhana never enters the dragon’s cave. Nobody but Thomas sees Puff.  Puff certainly acts to protect Thomas, but sharp readers will spot that only Thomas actually sees Puff. How then is it that Thomas is able to fly on Puff to spot the environmental destruction threatening his home-town? 

 When Huhana reminds Thomas about the role of taniwha as ‘Kaitiaki – protectors of the land’, it is clear that action is needed. Can Thomas conquer his fears and measure up?  The conclusion is poignant but satisfying.

The striking cover illustration of Puff is by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. Her magnificent conception dominates the cover with its golden eye. A smaller version decorates the chapter headings.

Trevor Agnew 
12 Mar 2025     [Review 3744]

 

 

Rākau: The Ancient Forests of Aotearoa  Ned Barraud 

 

  

Rākau: The Ancient Forests of Aotearoa     

Ned Barraud   
Te Papa Press (2025)
Picture book
Hardback, 52 pages
ISBN 978 1 99 107206 1   

 

 

Ned Barraud’s skill as an artist is matched by his ability as a writer. With the assistance of specialists from Te Papa (The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) he has created a magnificent picture book about New Zealand’s forests. He begins with a brief illustrated overview of the ancient forest and the changes brought by Māori and European settlers.

The main body of the book shows the various major trees, from tawai (beech) to rimu, tōtara to matai, rewarewa to karaka. Each illustration is supported by interesting facts, examples of use and sayings. Kahikatea, for example, intertwine their roots for stability, resulting in the Māori saying, ‘Rite tonu he whānau ki kahikatea rākau. Family is like kahikatea trees.’

The tōtara has a large illustration of a carved canoe, while smaller illustrations show the tōtara bark’s use as torches and pātua baskets.

Although listed as 48 pages, Rākau actually has 52 pages if you count the two stunning, unfolding tree portraits, each over 50 cm tall!. The kauri is, of course, represented by Tane Mahuta, while the other portrait is of a rata vine which has outlived its host tree and become a forest giant itself. 

As well as the trees, the illustrations show the birds and insects and animals which play their part in the forest world. The bushes, ferns and fungi are shown as well, along with the process of forest regeneration. Native trees which are commonly seen, even in cities, including kowhai and tī kōuka (cabbage tree), are given their due. Even the honeydew of the beech forest is explained.

Ned Barraud’s text is endlessly interesting, and carefully matched to the illustrations. He also provides brief retellings of favourite Māori tree legends, particularly ‘Rata and the Totara Tree’

The design of this book is impressive and two useful glossaries are included. The result is an appealing and useful picture book, which is also fun to read.

 

Trevor Agnew 
4 August 2025   [Review 3787]

 

 

Turkey Hurly-Burly 
Annelies Judson  Nikki Slade Robinson    

 

Turkey Hurly-Burly 
Annelies Judson,
Ill. Nikki Slade Robinson 
Scholastic (2025)
Picture book
Paperback, 32 pages
ISBN 978 1 77543 910 3 

‘A rampaging herd of turkeys,           

that numbered in the thirties,

rampaged towards the field of play.’

Turkey Hurly-Burly is a funny picture book which cries out to be read aloud.

When Miss Burton asked her class to suggest a classroom pet, she did her best to reject unsuitable creatures such as lunch-eating rats and book-eating goats. Unfortunately, she agreed to a pair of turkeys, Jake and Jenny. Eggs were laid and, in due course, there were lots of turkeys; in fact, ‘a flock, squashed beside the office block.’ When the fence gave way under the extreme turkey pressure, the entire flock of turkeys ‘went storming straight towards the children playing games outside.’

What follows is a comic catastrophe of epic proportions, fought out on the playing fields of New Zealand.

‘It was a turkey-teacher-student free-for-all.’

Not only does Annelies Judson relate a war story worthy of Homer; she also spins her saga in verse. (There is also a very appropriate and funny conclusion, which is more than Homer managed.) Best of all, Turkey Hurly-Burly scans perfectly, so that it can be recited, declaimed or sung.

Then there are the colour illustrations.  Nikki Slade Robinson has created marvellously exaggerated turkeys - all throbbing wattles and bulging eyes – generating mayhem as they forage for school lunches. The pictures portraying the charge of the turkeys are eye-wateringly funny.

The result is an ideal book for reading aloud – or even singing aloud.

 

Trevor Agnew 
9 Aug 2025    [Review 3789]

 

Violet and the Velvets:
The Case of the Angry Ghost 
Rachael King    Phoebe Morris

 

 

Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Angry Ghost
Rachael King Ill. Phoebe Morris
Allen and Unwin (2025)
Novel, paperback, 208 pages
ISBN 978 1 99100 699 8

 

‘You only need to know three chords to play a song.’

Violet Grumble, the self-confident, guitar-playing 12-year-old from Oakleaf Primary School has plenty of ambition for her euphoniously-named band, Violet and the Velvets. In the first book of the series, Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff (2025), Violet and her friends solved the mystery of who was sabotaging their band’s efforts to get to the BandChamps, an inter-school contest.

Now, the Velvets are one of fifteen bands competing at the BandChamps national finals in the Royal Theatre (a craftily-disguised version of Christchurch’s historic Theatre Royal), which is packed with excited young musicians and their teachers.  When the excitement is interrupted by sinister whispers of ‘get out get get out’, rumours of the ghost of a ballerina spread among the bands.  Lexie (bass) is reading a Nancy Drew story about a haunting, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall, so she urges the band to emulate Nancy Drew by ‘searching for clues and interviewing witnesses.’ The band members are happy to copy Nancy’s detection work but Lexie does have reservations about Nancy’s misadventures.

‘She almost drowned in quicksand though.’

Violet once again proves a confident clue-seeker and suspect-interviewer, as well as a cheerful narrator. With the tension of the sound-check and impending performance, everyone is on edge.

‘Excitement wobbled around us like jelly.’

When further ghostly happenings trigger panic, Violet keeps her head and even manages to safely extinguish a backstage fire. Who is to blame for the worrying events? Is there perhaps a real ghost? Or is it another attempt to sabotage the Velvets? Meanwhile, the band contest must go on and Violet has stage nerves as she prepares to sing the band’s Hallowe’en song, Angry Ghost. The conclusion is satisfyingly theatrical and enjoyable.

This witty, fast-moving adventure is a pleasure to read with neatly-sketched characters and lively dialogue. The music teacher, Mr Saunders, returns and even has a hint of romance with another teacher. Less welcome is the return of irritating braggart Brayden Jones, who is thoroughly unpleasant to everyone but who unintentionally makes everyone else seem kinder and more caring by contrast.

Brayden: ‘Hey, why are you in a wheelchair?’

Dee: ‘I find that it really helps me … to mind my own business!’

Co-operation and recognising other people’s merits are the keys to success in Violet’s world, and if seeing girls succeed puts Brayden’s noise out of joint, all the better. The atmosphere of a band contest is well created, clues are examined, witnesses are interviewed and red herrings are rejected in a thoroughly enjoyable story. There are also some great band names, from Go Dog Go to Shimmy Shimmy.

The illustrations and decorations throughout the book are by the talented Phoebe Morris. Her black-and-white illustrations give visual identities to all the characters. Particularly cute is the picture of the two teachers at the precise moment when their eavesdropping students discover that their first names are Duncan and Jojo.  

I was fortunate enough to hear the author’s world premiere vocal-and-guitar rendition of Angry Ghost. Readers who wish to listen to Violet and the Velvets’ version of Too Shy and Angry Ghost will find them on the author’s website:

rachael-king.com/fun-stuff

 

Trevor Agnew 
14 Sep 2025    [Review 3793]