One tūī is singing his heart out from a thin branch of a kowhai tree. He is happy with the blue sky above and the yummy yellow treat awaiting him in each kowhai flower.

When another tūī arrives, he is not keen for company, but then another arrives, and another and another!

Flapping, squawking, trilling and squeaking, more and more fly in, causing the branch to begin creaking!

As they crowd one another, pushing and shoving, they begin to slide down the ever-thinning branch…

They more they eat, the more they feel a little off kilter. Will they even be able to fly away even if they wanted to?

The answer is decided for them…

I burst out laughing at the result of two many tūī, in a kowhai tree. Essentially a counting book, Ring Ting Tūī is beautifully balanced in rhythm and rhyme from the pen of Elena de Roo.

Illustrator Paul Beavis has captured the tūī’s cheeky nature and antics brilliantly as they arrive for a snack like children flocking to a lolly shop. Just like children, they don’t want to miss out, and their behaviour in the tree is hilarious.

But too many tūī, all falling under the kowhai honey’s spell are beginning to feel a little drunk, and the result of their greedy feed is spectacular!

I loved looking back through the story to see what a wee wētā is doing throughout this ever increasing ruckus. I loved him guiding in the tūī like aeroplanes.

In the back of the book are ten tūī fascinating facts you might not know.

Author – Elena de Roo

Illustrator – Paul Beavis

Picture Book

See more books written by Elena de Roo here

See more books illustrated by Paul Beavis here

(2024, NZ, Penguin Books NZ, New Zealand Author, Aotearoa, NZ Illustrator, Native Birds, Tui, Humour, Funny, Kowhai tree, Animals, Counting, Greedy, too many Tūī, Fascinating Facts, Wētā, Sharing, Nectar, Crowd)