Please note, for the links to work you need to click on the title of the book to be taken to the full post. Thanks Tarnya
"The picture book is a peculiar art form that thrives on genius, intuition, daring and a meticulous attention to its history and its various, complex components. The picture book is a picture puzzle, badly misunderstood by critics and condescended to by far too many as merely a trifle for "the kiddies." Children are routinely patronized and thus so are we who spend our creative lives entertaining them and nourishing their spirit" Maurice Sendak
Intermediate Age
10-13 years
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
I read this to my son (11 years). It is the kind of book to be read aloud because there is so much to discuss and the subject matter is difficult: The story is set at the time of the holocaust but when you begin the book you don’t know this. My son... »
The Door In the Wall
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli is a delightful historical fiction book. We purchased it on audio cassette some years ago, the tapes used so often they has to be thrown out. It was my older children’s favourite book to listen to when they were ill in bed. Robin, the son... »
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois was published in 1947. This book has stood the test of time. A retired school teacher sets off on a balloon adventure and ends up of an island secretly populated with families of immense wealth- the island has a diamonds. The author explores what different... »
Weapons by Edwin Tunis
When my boys were little I banned guns. Then they picked up sticks which were swords, guns etc. So I decided to embrace their love of tools of defense;-) I preferred to think along the lines of self defense, fighting off lions and tigers or evil villains, who had come to invade our... »
Explode the Code by Nancy M Hall
We love these workbooks for learning to read, we have been using them for 10 years ( different children . You can read more about the program here including the online version which we haven’t tried yet. Click on the picture to be taken to Learnex (New Zealand) for the workbooks. One of my children... »
The Life-Size Guide to Insects and Other Land Invertebrates of New Zealand By Andrew Crowe
Andrew Crowe’s books were a wonderful edition to our home library. My 6 year old son appreciates the life sized photographs because it helps so much with identification. This last summer and no doubt the next he will bring in many creeping things for us all to “OOO” and hopefully not too many “ARGHHH!”... »