Billy and Old Smoko


Book Description

Billy wakes to find his father all lackadaisical, and a strange woman burning the porridge. She reckons his real mother ran away, and he must call her Mum now. But Billy isn't stupid. With Old Smoko, a stately, talking horse whom he teaches to read, Billy looks for his real mum under the Kaimais, out the back of Waharoa. He learns the secret of Mount Te Aroha, hears the ancient Maori story of Snow White, and sees how Auckland got its electricity. He also goes pig hunting, plays footy, discovers roast pork and apple sauce sandwiches - and falls in love with the blue eyes of Harrietta.




Billy and Old Smoko


Book Description

Very funny, must-read-aloud yarn for junior readers about the fantastical adventures of a talking horse and a boy looking for his mother. Billy wakes one morning to find his mother gone and the house in control of a strange woman burning the porridge. According to Billy, his father has gone all lackadaisical. So it’s Old Smoko, a well-spoken Clydesdale farm-horse, who takes Billy to school each day and teaches him to read. Together Billy and Old Smoko go in search of Billy’s real mum under the Kaimai Ranges, out the back of Waharoa. They meet a queen disguised as the Rawleighs Man, cannibal eels and man-eating Captain Cookers, but even they cannot prevail against a boy and his horse, especially when they have both read the mythology section of the School Journal. Billy learns the secret of Mount Te Aroha, hears the ancient Maori story of Snow White, and sees how Auckland got its electricity. He goes pig hunting, plays footy, discovers roast pork and apple sauce sandwiches – and falls in love with the blue eyes of Harrietta. Written by one of New Zealand's wittiest and most original and delightfully anarchic storytellers fior children, this book is guaranteed to make the world a better place for those who believe in the value of friendship.




Grandad's Wheelies


Book Description

When Jack visits his grandparents, they tell him stories - each outdoing the other with a tale taller and wilder than the last. When Jack visits his grandparents, there's no television to entertain him. No internet, no mobile phone, no tablets. In fact, there's no technology or modern distractions at all. But he still likes to visit, because Grandad and Granny tell him stories - each trying to outdo the other with a tale taller and wilder than the last. Did you ever hear about the dragon of Waitemata harbour? Or the bridge between the North and South islands? Or why the Beehive is round in shape - and who REALLY made the Marlborough Sounds? And then there's the pumpkin larger than a garden shed, and a wheelbarrow that converts into a boat for a seasick kangaroo. There are lost false teeth, eels and the ingenious invention of the world's first rotary clothesline helicopter . . . and a flying train that touches down at the station in Nelson. With equally wild watercolour illustrations throughout by Bob Kerr, Grandad's Wheelies is a hilarious, rollicking yarn stitching together a picture of life in New Zealand a couple of generations back that is just about true. Jack can't get enough of his Grandad and Granny's stories - and readers young and old will love them too!




Legarde Twins Showbiz Hustlers


Book Description

An autobiography of Ted and Tom LeGarde of The LeGarde Twins.




Black Billy Tea


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An Outback Life


Book Description

An outback tale of a woman who spent the prime of her life in the Northern Territory, often struggling to put a meal on the table, told in simple, straightforward language, the narrative zipping along at a lively pace, with one cracking yarn after another....




The Orchardist


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Aussie Etiket


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Thunder Road


Book Description

Which street racer really controls the strip? An award-winning YA novel full of fast cars, burn-offs and an unwritten code of loyalty. 'Thunder Road' . You find it in any city after the cops are in bed. It's where street racers go to test their machines - and their nerve. For me it was ... the steep rising pitch of the turbo, the screaming tyres and curtain of white smoke hanging behind me: all the stuff that spells street racing.' Trace is 19 and has grown out of small-town ways. He's hungry for more. In Auckland he hooks up with Devon, a guy with the Midas touch, who introduces Trace to burn-offs, big city style. Soon everything is smoking. There is a code with drivers: you don't criticise and you don't show fear. When Trace falls for a girl even Devon says is out of his league, loyalties are stretched. Then Devon hits on a scheme for hauling in cash. Soon enough he and Trace find out who really controls the strip. As the underworld closes in, it looks like their friendship is heading for burn-out. Menacing and suspenseful - a gripping novel from a remarkable talent which won the of the NZ Post Children's Book Awards Young Adult Fiction category in 2004.




Book Review Index - 2009 Cumulation


Book Description

Book Review Index provides quick access to reviews of books, periodicals, books on tape and electronic media representing a wide range of popular, academic and professional interests. The up-to-date coverage, wide scope and inclusion of citations for both newly published and older materials make Book Review Index an exceptionally useful reference tool. More than 600 publications are indexed, including journals and national general interest publications and newspapers. Book Review Index is available in a three-issue subscription covering the current year or as an annual cumulation covering the past year.