A young Weka is curious and keen to explore. He sets off to find new friends and learn more about his world on the Chatham Islands (New Zealand).

First he sees a Parea, a large plump bird who is cousin to the Kereru, and even bigger too.

Next he hears a busy tui going about his business, then finds a crunchy weta to eat, and meets many more birds big and small.

There are bright colours, red, yellow and green and one bird balancing on one leg!

Songbirds sing their melodies across the island as others squawk as they hunt for breakfast.

At the end of the day, Weka has met so many wonderful birds.

……a wide range of birds that are one of a kind

‘These islands are home to some species so rare,

we’re lucky to see them and that they’re still here.’

From the surprise of sumptuous endpapers as soon as you open this book, to the final page, this hardpack picture book is a treasure.

These endpapers highlight 12 rare birds that the reader is about to meet and learn about within the pages. Listed next to each bird is its name in both English and Maori (if applicable), with the number of birds left in the wild on the Chathams.

On turning pages, there is a full page given to a watercolour of the islands themselves from a bird’s eye view, and then we begin the actual book.

We meet a young Weka who is keen to explore, and with impeccable rhyme we experience his senses of sight, hearing and touch along with many other encounters with other Chatham Islands feathered residents.

Each double page spread is dedicated to one bird, with its own rhyme and beautiful watercolour image, and interesting fact at the bottom of the page. Simple ink drawings of leaves, feathers and other things from the bird’s surroundings, accompany the watercolour images.

Within the rhyme, the reader learns a little about each bird, whether it be where they live, how they sound or what their job is in the forest.

I have long been a bird lover, but I learn many new bird facts from this book.

Beautiful!

Author – Kate Preece

Illustrator – Pippa Ensor

Picture Book

(NZ, Bateman, New Zealand, Aotearoa, Chatham Islands, Birds, Tomtit, Petrel, Shag, Warbler, Weka, Pigeon, Parakeet, Mollymawk, Tui, Robin, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Rare, Endangered, Protected Species, Bird behaviour, Rhyme, Rhythm)