The Kuia and the Spider


Book Description

Once there was a kuia who made mats and baskets. In the corner of her kitchen lived a spider who made webs. Since its publication in 1981, Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa's The Kuia and the Spider has become a New Zealand classic.




Electric City


Book Description

These are short stories about ordinary folk leading seemingly ordinary lives. The power of community, extended family and culture are central to all. Thirteen stories in which the joys of discovery are tempered by the knowledge of a harder, colder world. Sunlight, childhood and nature set against conflict and misunderstanding, in the ever-present shadows of the spirit of the land.




Waiariki


Book Description

Patricia Grace's popular first collection – sensitive stories of Maori life which explore Maori spirituality and values and pursue relationships between people, family and races. Also available as an eBook




My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes


Book Description

Lots of cats all around the world do exciting things like fly aeroplanes or play the violin - but my cat, an ordinary round-the-house cat, likes to hide in boxes. Children will love joining in with this fun rhyming story that is just right for beginner readers.




Chappy


Book Description

Spanning several decades and several continents and set against the backdrop of a changing New Zealand, Chappy is a compelling story of enduring love. Uprooted from his privileged European life and sent to New Zealand to sort himself out, twenty-one-year-old Daniel pieces together the history of his Maori family. As his relatives revisit their past, Daniel learns of a remarkable love story between his Maori grandmother Oriwia and his Japanese grandfather Chappy. The more Daniel hears about his deceased grandfather, the more intriguing – and elusive – Chappy becomes. In this touching portrayal of family life, acclaimed writer Patricia Grace explores racial intolerance, cross-cultural conflicts and the universal desire to belong. Also available as an eBook.




Dogside Story


Book Description

There is conflict in the whanau. The young man Te Rua holds a secret for life, the one to die with . But he realises that if he is to acknowledge and claim his daughter, the secret will have to be told. The Sisters are threatening to drag the whanau through the courts. But why? What is really going on? Meanwhile, wider events are encroaching. Visitors will arrive in numbers to this East Coast site, wanting to be among the first in the world to see the new millennium. There are plans to be put into action, there's money to be made, and there's high drama as the millennium turns . . . Like Potiki before it, Dogside Story is set in a rural Maori coastal community. The power of the land and the strength of the whanau are life-preserving forces. This rich and vivid novel, threaded with humour, presents a powerful picture of Maori in modern times. Also available as an eBook




Small Holes in the Silence


Book Description

This is a fine new collection of short stories by the much-loved Patricia Grace, probably never more popular since the great commercial success of the novel Tu. The feast of stories is varied: urban, rural, New Zealand, overseas, tribal, contemporary. The thread that runs through all the stories, though, is Grace's huge sympathy for the underdog and the perspective of the outsider. The world she depicts is often a stark and unsentimental place, in which people struggle against ageing, rejection, violence and betrayal.




Peace at Last


Book Description

Jill Murphy's bestselling classic Peace at Last has delighted young children for almost forty years, and is equally beloved by tired parents who are all too familiar with the plight of poor Mr Bear. With a snoring Mrs Bear, an excitable Baby Bear and a house full of tapping and dripping and ticking, peace is hard to come by – will Mr Bear ever get a decent night's sleep? The familiar noises, repetition and beautiful illustrations make Jill Murphy's delightful Peace at Last an all-time favourite bedtime story with children and adults everywhere.




Taniwha


Book Description

"A little boy has made friends with the taniwha in his river, but no-one believes him. The taniwha takes the boy on a journey through time and myth where he meets some amazing characters, gathering the earth's treasures as he goes"--Publisher information.




Watercress Tuna and the Children of Champion Street


Book Description

An unusual tuna with a magic throat leaps out of his stream and visits a number of children in Champion Street. To each he gives an article of clothing for dancing, or a musical instrument. The children are all from different ethnic communities living in New Zealand. On Champion Street the children all come together and dance all day and all night. Age 4+ 32 pages