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

 

Feathered Friends Donovan Bixley

 

Donovan Bixley  Feathered Friends

 

Donovan Bixley  Feathered Friends
Feathered Friends
Pīwakawaka People series (vol. 1)
Donovan Bixley (text & ill.)
Upstart (2026)
Chapter Book/Picture book
64 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77694 105 6

 

‘Hana was only as tall as a child’s outstretched hand. She had been born with a twisted ‘clubfoot’ which meant she walked with a slight shuffle. Luckily Hana had also been born with a special power, which you’ll find out about very soon.’

 I have always loved stories that come with maps. From The Phantom Tollbooth to Swallows and Amazons, Gulliver’s Travels to The Hobbit, their maps help confirm the reality of their fantasy world. Donovan Bixley’s map of Kākāriki Valley gives the homeland of his tiny folk, the Pīwakawaka People, a solid reality.  On the4 first pages of this book, young Hana has drawn a map that shows her tiny forest world, centred on her family’s treehouse hidden in an ancient rimu tree. Beyond the forest lies a sheltered bay, a haven for sailing ships. On its shores are both a papakāinga (village) and a small Pakeha settlement. There are hot springs, a waterfall and thousands of birds: a perfect stage for Hana’s family.

 Elderly Grandmother Baba is the matriarch who has built up the family knowledge of how to use the local plants. Thus, as the story begins, Hana’s Ma is busy baking kōwhai nectar cakes while her Pa is grinding karaka berry kernels to make flour.  Hana and her little sister, Pea, are hard at work sweeping the treehouse floor with thistle-heads. Pea doesn’t enjoy sweeping the bugs out. ‘But they’re so cute,’ she says. Han’s preference is for birds; she can communicate with the birds who live around their tree-home.

 Tiripou, the sky-diving pīwakawaka (fantail) is Hana’s special friend and he carries the girls on his back to visit the heights of the giant kauri tree, Te Tūārangi.  Donovan Bixley provides his characters with interesting and witty dialogue, often including handy Māori terms. When Tiripou does acrobatics to catch some mayflies, Hana and Pea cling on for dear life.

‘Tiri! Fly straight,’ cried Hana, ‘Did you forget you had passengers?’

‘This manu’s got to eat some kai, e hoa!’ grumbled Tiripou. ‘And you two aren’t exactly the lightest of passengers, you know!’

 Trouble arrives dramatically in the form of an aerial attack by Toa, the hungry karearea  (falcon), followed by a duel with an equally hungry tunnelweb spider, followed by an unexpected encounter with Big People. And we’re only into Chapter 3 of an eight-chapter story!   

 Donovan Bixley is at his sumptuous best in his colour illustrations of Hana’s forest world. He is also famous for his attention to detail in his pictures and young readers will enjoy looking for the various appearances of the letter-opener, hat-pin and thimble, which each play important roles in the story. The clothing the little people wear is also worth careful study. I was particularly impressed by Papa’s carefully crafted jandals.

The birds and insects are lovingly detailed, so readers can see why Pea gets on so well with huhu grubs and beetles. The contrast between the creatures and the tiny people is aways a delight, especially when Hana kicks the spider in the puku.

 

Readers have always been interested in tiny people since the earliest fairy stories. The Piwakawaka People are worthy followers in the literary tradition of the Gumnut Babies, created by May Gibbs, and their Kiwi cousins, Hutu and Kawa, the work of Avis Acres. Their literary ancestors also include the tiny Lilliputians of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and T.H. White’s Mistress Masham’s Repose. More closely related, perhaps, are the undaunted Harriety and her family in Mary Norton’s The Borrowers. Donovan Bixley hints at a common ancestry when old Baba, the family’s grandmother, describes leaving the ‘Old Country’ by stowing away on a sailing ship and getting off when they reached the first country that had no snakes.

 Feathered Friends is a great launch pad for young readers’ first encounter with a chapter book.  

Doubtless, there will be a strong demand for future instalments of the adventures of the resourceful and charming Pīwakawaka People.

 

Trevor Agnew
7 Nov 2026  [Review 3878.]

Slow Mo Mark Sommerset

 Slow Mo Mark Sommerset              

 Slow Mo
Mark Sommerset
Ill. Carla Martell
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
24 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 973 8

 

‘Slow Down! You’re approaching Snuggle Town.’ 

The sign at the beginning of Slow Mo is impressive but it is also funny. As readers follow the wordless opening illustrations, they see snails and insects creeping slowly along a vine. Turn the page and they see a fuzzy russet creature hanging upside down from the vine. Another turned page makes all clear.  Snuggle Town is a community of sloths! Dozens of sloths.

 Dangling from vines, the dozing sloths are introduced with their euphonious names, including Relaxed Max, Steady Eddie, Dozey Rosie and Inert Bert. As their names suggest these sloths are slow-moving but there is general agreement that the slowest-moving sloth is Mo.

‘No-one was slower than Mo.
Not Lazy Daisy or Weary Gerry or even Bored Claude.’

 Since most of the residents of Snuggle Town are semi-comatose, readers might expect nothing to happen in this book. Instead, tension rises, as the inhabitants of Snuggle Town learn something shocking:

‘Sloths like slow
And Mo was as slow
as a sloth can go.
Except for Bill.’

 Except for Bill? Who is Bill? The curious (and active) young sloths are fascinated by the large blue sloth who beats Mo at slowness. Mo climbs, eats and blinks v-e-r-y slowly.

Young sloth Busy Lizzie (who is easily distinguished by the red flower she wears behind her ear) brings this news back down the vine. Her report, passed slowly among the sloths, is that Bill doesn’t climb, and never eats or blinks at all! Bill is so still that the young sloths now call him Still Bill.

 ‘Sloths love still
and no one
was stiller than Bill’

 Then one day Busy Lizzy has an accident with a vine and makes an amazing discovery that brings surprises to all the sloths. The surprise and its revelation within a revelation is perfectly keyed to the story and is very funny as well.  It also creates a wonderfully warm conclusion to this s-l-o-w- -m-o-v-i-n-g tale.

 Carla Martell’s charming illustrations create an amazing range of sloths. Whether young and lively or adult and dozing they are hilarious.   Her pictures are a perfect match for Mark Sommerset’s witty wordplay.  Mark Sommerset’s picture books are always fun to read aloud and Slow Mo is no exception.

 

Trevor Agnew
7 Oct 2026  [Review 3869.]

 

 

 Photo ©Mark Sommerset: Author’s Blog: https://www.marksommerset.com/

 

 

The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH! Elaine Bickell Raymond McGrath

 

The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH!        

 

The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH!
Elaine Bickell
Ill. Raymond McGrath
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
32 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 996 7

 

‘Little Vampire went out early one night,
excited about all the things he would bite.’

 With the deserved success of The Little Ghost Who Lost Her BOO! (2019) and The Little Witch Who Lost her BROOM! (2024), Elaine Bickell has now produced a third volume in the series, The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH! The common factor is not that the characters are supernatural beings but rather they are supernatural beings who are children. (They might even be children who have dressed up for Halloween.)

 Elaine Bickell’s verses are cheerful, witty and readable, with enjoyable rhythms:

‘He opened his mouth, got ready to nibble…
but, oh no! His tooth had a wobbly wibble!’

 Look at how artist Raymond McGrath has depicted Little Vampire. His traditional evening dress with swirling cape creates lovely curves, which are reflected in his gracefully-curved shirt, trousers, waistcoat, shoes, fingers, ears and kiss-curl. Only his fangs are pointed. Whoops! Fang. His fang is pointed. What a calamity! Little Vampire has lost a wiggly tooth. Fortunately, his supernatural friends are quick to comfort him.

 Little Ghost offers him an ice cream:

‘Try eating something you don’t need to bite.

Have my ice scream, it’ll do the trick.
No need to bite -just give it a lick.’

 Flying by, Little Witch, has toffees to offer. The bats enjoy them but Little Vampire cannot be consoled:  

“Yum,” said Vampire,“but chewing’s not right.
I am a vampire and vampires bite!”

 Further attempts at aiding Little Vampire fail but then comes the funniest part of this story. The readers (and their listeners) are invited to take part in reassuring the Little Vampire. And the best part is that all young readers do have the knowledge which will bring him joy. It’s no spoiler to say that young readers can take full credit for the gloriously happy ending which ensues.

 Dawn McMillan describes The Little Vampire Who Lost a TOOTH! as a not-too-scary story, and her jolly verse certainly keeps the mood light. The pictures also add to the fun. Who expected spider monsters to wear baseball caps, or the Little Mummy to sport a smiley-face T-shirt over his wrappings?

A squadron of pink-eared vampire bats fly in formation with Little Vampire (and walk in formation with him when he walks). When he hangs upside-down from a bridge (to lick a lollipop) the bats hang beside Little Vampire in a neat curve.

 The witty detail in the charming illustrations create a droll child’s-eye-view of Halloween. As Little Vampire flies over the park, young readers will spot that the ice cream stall is being operated by a genial Abominable Snowman. An amiable tentacled monster is walking his pet rat on a lead and an even more amiable and even more tentacled octopus is running the soup van. Looking at the pictures is as rewarding as reading the words

 Ideal for shared reading – of both the words and the pictures.

 

Trevor Agnew
19 Oct 2026  [Review 3868.]

Talking Tukutuku

 

Talking Tukutuku
Kirsty Wadsworth with Doreen Bennett
Ill. Zak Ātea 
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book
40 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 957 8

 

 

Talking Tukutuku is a special book. Kirsty Wadsworth is the writer and Zak Ātea is the illustrator. Doreen Bennett is the Tukutuku Weaver cultural consultant. These three have combined their knowledge and talents to create an enjoyable and informative picture book

 Hīnātore enjoys her visits to the marae and being with her lively cousins Ariki and Māra. Inside the meeting house, however, Hīnātore is embarrassed that she cannot remember the names and patterns of the woven tukutuku panels that line the walls. Her cousins seem to know them all.

Arki rattles off the details, ‘This panel is the Pātiki, and this grand one is the Poutama …’

 ‘I’ll never remember all those names,’ interrupts Hīnātore, ‘I can’t even remember the names of all our aunties and uncles.’

 Left alone before the panels, Hīnātore is amazed when the diamond-shaped woven patterns begin to light up and move about. Then she realises that they are swimming like fish.

‘Ae,’ they replied. ‘We are Pātiki – flounder – and this is our tukutuku.’

 As Hīnātore loks around other panels begin lighting up, then moving and speaking to her. Tiny figures seem to be climbing up a set of steps. ‘We are the Poutama, representing the growth of knowledge – always learning, always gathering new skills.’

 As she goes around the panels, Hīnātore begins to understand the various symbols that the weavers have used. The sharp triangles remind her of teeth.

‘This one must be Niho Taniwha – the Taniwha’s teeth.’

‘Ae, tika,’ the tukutuku replied. ‘We symbolise strength, resilience and leadership – the things you might expect from a taniwha.’

 As each tukutuku tells its story and explains the significance of its pattern, Hīnātore learns that ‘everything is connected and everything has a purpose.’ She touches the building’s carvings, the woven panels and the photographs of ancestors, feeling a new sense of connection.

 The story concludes on a triumphant note, with Hīnātore surprising her family with her knowledge of tukutuku and her whanau’s legacy. Nanny Ihi has a special revelation for her.

 Zak Ātea has done well in capturing the various aspects of the tukutuku panels and also suggesting their broader symbolism. The weaving patterns can be seen in the sky and landscape in many of the pictures, so that readers can appreciate the skill of the detail work. She has also created convincing children of the three main characters, especially the bouncy Ariki who shows his amazement at his cousin’s achievement. The scene with Hīnātore and her Nanny Ihi clasping hands is particularly moving.

A fact section, Weaving Stories, at the end of the book contains key facts and ideas about tukutuku weaving. It includes a photo of one of Doreen Bennett’s panels, with an explanation of the symbols used.

 This book has its place in homes, of course, but it will be even more important for it to be in libraries and classrooms. Doreen Bennet’s final comment explains why, ‘When we learn traditional arts and stories, we become responsible knowledge holders, passing it on to future generations. It is our pride, identity and legacy.’

Talking Tukutuku passes it on.

 

Trevor Agnew

20 Oct 2026  [Review 3866.]

 

Pacific Myths and legends                 

Retold by A.W. Reed
Illustrated by Jenny Cooper
Oratia (2026)
Moana Oceania series
Picture book, Retellings
120 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 99 004284 3

 

‘When a big storm comes to the island of Nauru, the people who live there say to each other, “Oh dear, Young Spider has stolen the fire again!”’

 Pacific Myths and Legends is a collection of A.W. [Andrew Wyclif] Reed’s retellings of Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian folktales and legends. This collection has a long history. It was first published as Fairy Tales from the Pacific Islands in 1969, with a second edition being retitled as Myths and Legends of the Pacific (2000). In the 21^st Century, new printing technology made possible the handsome third edition, Illustrated Myths and Legends of the Pacific (2007) with magnificent full-colour pictures and decorations by Jenny Cooper. (That edition has her alarming Chatham Islands sea monster on the cover.)

It is this edition which has now been re-issued with a different cover and the same words and pictures (although it is minus three stories; one from Tahiti and two from New Guinea.) To avoid confusion with those previous editions, the title has now become Pacific Myths and Legends. (This edition has Jenny Cooper’s equally alarming shark on the cover.)

 All that is bibliographic history, of course. What the reader wants to know is whether the retelling has dated over the last five decades. A.W. Reed’s 1969 text has actually worn very well. His style is an easy, storytelling voice, with a strong emphasis on the character of the people (and creatures) described. The stories are long, ranging from 4 to 7 pages in length, so the designer, Cheryl Smith, has done well to fit them into 120 pages.

 ‘Many years ago, thousands of menehune, or little elves, lived in the islands of Hawai’i. You would not expect to see them in a great city like Honolulu but sometimes, they say, you can see a little man out the corner of your eye. He has red cheeks and a big smile. If you turn to look at him, he disappears, but you know that he was there a moment ago.’

 

The re-told stories come from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Hawai’i, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Caroline Islands, Fiji, New Britain, Palau, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. As well as favourites such as ‘Hinemoa and Tūtānekai’, there are many less familiar stories about the peoples, gods and animals of the Pacific region.

 An enjoyable aspect of some of these legends is the gentle mocking of foolish or unwise people. Although a wise old man advises his chief, ‘This I have heard from my father who heard it from his father’s father,’ many of the stories sound as though they were passed from mother to mother. A Solomon Islands legend explaining ‘Why the Moon Has a Dirty face’ presents a chief who wants to use a fishing line to hook the moon, so it can be a permanent night-light in his house. His folly is matched by ‘The Foolish Canoe Paddlers’ who forget to raise their anchor and the ‘Six Men Who Tried to Catch a Sunbeam.’

From New Britain, in Papua New Guinea, comes the aptly titled ‘The Wise Brother and the Foolish Brother,’ with its subtle humour about a man who failed at housebuilding and fishing: ‘Kabinana was the foolish brother. He thought he was much cleverer than Karvuvu, so whatever Karvuvu did, Kabinana did it differently.’

Jennifer Cooper’s colour illustrations represent her best work, capturing the symbolic power and human interest of each of the legends. Her magnificent watercolour paintings of the stories’ Pacific Island people are complemented by the traditional Pacific patterns and symbols which help make this such a striking book.

 esigner Cheryl Smith has helpfully included each story’s title and place of origin in small type at the bottom of each page. There is also a handy map to show the location of the island territories represented.

 Trevor Agnew

2 Oct 2026  [Review 3872.]