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"Kiwi Bites" is a series of chapter books by New Zealand writers, aimed at 7- 8 year olds, or perhaps slightly older reluctant readers. They're all fun and quirky and are particularly well laid-out to encourage children to pick them up, want to read on, and then want to read more in the series. There's lots of space still, large text, and plenty of illustration to fill out the story still further.
Kathy White's book, A Hairy Tale, is a funny, comtemporary take on the Rapunzel fairy tale. It has goodies and baddies, heroes and heroines, and dramatic hair-raising rescue attempts, all leading up to the twist in the tale at the end. It's told with great humour, which is really important to keep your children hooked at this age, and would appeal to boys and girls alike. Fraser Williamson's snappy illustrations increase the lively buzz of this tale. Guaranteed to be enjoyed.
Jillian Sullivan is the winner of the Tom Fitzgibbon Award for 2004, which is a New Zealand award to encourage new writers. The book which won the award for Jillian is "Shreve's Promise".
It has a real New Zealand feel to it in terms of style and language, and it really keeps you guessing with a number of twists and turns along the way. This book is many-layered: it's a ghost story, it's a tale of friendship, it's a contemporary picture of the breakdown of a family, and it's a quest featuring a brave and much-wronged teenager, Shreve. The promise in the title is for Shreve to help an old lady who she fears might be in some danger, but the fingers of the promise stretch into many areas.
This book is interesting and appealing on many levels, and has enough action it to suit teenage boys and girls alike.
Tired of fantasy and looking for something original to entice the pre-teen boy reader?
Brian Falkner's second novel, The Real Thing, is every bit as inventive and exciting as his debut novel Henry and the Flea. His books are about boys who have some incredible ability. In the first, the Flea can slow down time by blinking, and in this book his friend, Fizzer Boyd, has an exceptional sense of taste. He can tell from a sip where a fizzy drink was make, by whom, and how, almost down to the batch number.
So when the only three people in the world who know the recipe for Coca Cola are kidnapped, Fizzer and his friend Tupai are flown from NZ to the States to invent a formula that will cover up the catastrophe.
From this moment the reader is rocketed into a twisting, turning mystery-cum-thriller, with dramatic escapes, car chases and plane-rides across Australia. It's a sophisticated, exciting read for kids in the 10 – 13 age bracket. And for their parents, it's like 'The Firm' without the hyperbole. Great fun, and strikingly original.
