My Books
Here's my great line up of children's books. Most are available in both paperback and hardback, you can find them in all good bookstores or online at Potton and Burton. Also on the Potton and Burton website is additional information for children and ideas and activities for parents and teachers.
New Zealand Nature Heroes: Inspiration and activities for young conservationists is aimed at 8-14 year olds. 80 pages of inspiring stories about conservationists, accompanied by natural history facts and authentic activities that young people can do so that they too can be nature heroes. Conservationists featured include those from the past such as Richard Henry and Perrine Moncrieff, the famous such as Don Merton and Ingrid Visser, contemporary conservationists Pātaka Moore & Caleb Royal and Nicola Toki, and young nature heroes such as George Hobson and Riley Hathaway.
Further information about New Zealand Nature Heroes can be found at here https://www.gilliancandler.co.nz/nature-heroes. This includes more nature hero activities and up-to-date links and nature hero news.
Animals of Aotearoa: explore & discover New Zealand's wildlife is the latest addition to the explore & discover series, illustrated by Ned Barraud.
Animals of Aotearoa is a compendium of native and introduced wildlife for children aged 4-8 years old. It's 112 pages long and available in hardback only.
Discover the different species of kiwi, bats and native frogs. Explore the animal kingdom, learn about insects and spiders and other invertebrates. Find out about both native and introduced animals.
Whose Home is This? is a guessing game picture book featuring New Zealand native animals. From birds' nests and animal burrows to simple camouflage and shells, many animals make a home to raise their young or protect themselves. Children will have fun while learning more about amazing native animals such as hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins, giant snails and octopus.
Whose Home is This? was a finalist in the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
For more ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for parents and educators, read here.
Whose Feet are These? is a guessing game picture book featuring New Zealand native animals. From the familiar wētā and kākāpo to the less well known peripatus and short-tailed bat, these animals have feet uniquely adapted to their lifestyle. Children will have fun while they learn about animal adaptations. Illustrated by Fraser Williamson. I was interviewed about this book on 12 April 2017 by Bee Trudgeon of Porirua Library here. Make a gecko with sticky feet.
Whose Feet are These? received a Storylines Notable Book Award in 2017.
For more ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, see here.
Whose Beak is This? is a guessing game picture book featuring New Zealand native birds. From the familiar kiwi and tui to the less well known wrybill and spoonbill, these birds have quirky and interesting beaks. Children will have fun while they learn about animal adaptations. Illustrated by Fraser Williamson.
Whose Beak is This? was a finalist in the 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and was awarded a Storylines Notable Book Award in 2016.
Make a kaka mask or kiwi beak book corner. Or print out this free download to match beaks to birds.
For more ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, read more here.
The "explore and discover" series -
these factual books about New Zealand are designed for 4-8 year olds. Written by Gillian Candler and illustrated by Ned Barraud, they show living creatures in habitats that are familiar and interesting to young children. Positive feedback about the books tells us that they are enjoyed by toddlers, older children and adults too!
Up the River: explore and discover New Zealand's rivers, lakes and wetlands introduces children to the special wildlife that make their home in healthy waterways. Children will learn about amazing journeys that fish make, incredible life-cycles of aquatic insects and unusual habitats such as braided rivers. Following a similar format to At the Beach this makes a great companion book, as At the Beach includes estuary habitats; and also to In the Bush as bush streams are included in Up the River.
From Moa to Dinosaurs: explore and discover ancient New Zealand takes the reader back in time from 1000 years ago to over 100 million years ago. As they turn the pages, children will learn about ancient survivors such as tuatara, recently extinct animals such as moa, going right back to long-extinct dinosaurs and ammonites. Along the way they will discover that New Zealand was also once home to giant penguins and crocodilians.
Explanations of Gondwana, fossils and evidence that scientists use to uncover the past, all extend the interest level of this book up to 12 years. I learned a lot about scientific advances while researching for this book.
For ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, see here
From Moa to Dinosaurs was a finalist in the 2017 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
In the Bush: explore and discover New Zealand's native forests takes readers into the bush, during the day and at night. Habitats include the forest floor, the undergrowth, the canopy, an emergent rimu tree, the beech forest and the forest sanctuary. Find out about the danger posed by introduced predators to our native animals. A laminated card in the back of the first print run of books can be used to identify forest birds. This card is no longer included, print out a free copy of the forest bird card. For ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, see here.
Under the Ocean: explore and discover New Zealand's sea life looks at the life in reefs, on the sea floor, the open ocean and the deep ocean. Learn more about New Zealand's sea life, including animals that spend some time on land and some in the sea.
Under the Ocean was named a Storylines Notable Book in 2015, was on the longlist for the 2015 Lianza Children's Book Awards, and was a finalist in the 2015 New Zealand Children's Book Awards.
For ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, see Tips for Reading With Children - Under the Ocean.
In the Garden: explore and discover the New Zealand backyard shows garden birds, bees, worms, insects, spiders, lizards and much more. Learn about the what lives in the ground, the plants and the trees.
In the Garden was named a Storylines Notable Book in 2014. For ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, see here.
At the Beach: explore and discover the New Zealand seashorecovers sandy beaches, mudflats and rocky shores. It comes with a removable laminated card suitable for taking to the beach to help identify what you see there.
At the Beach was a finalist in the 2013 New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards and won the Elsie Locke Medal for Non-Fiction in the 2013 Lianza Awards.
For ideas on reading this book, activities and notes for educators, see here.