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.]