Picture Books about Famous New Zealanders

We all want our grandchildren to do well and to be proud of who they are. These stories about Famous New Zealanders may inspire them to start dreaming about their own futures and to aim high.

Piri’s Big All Black Dream
Piri Weepu, the Maori All Black with a cheeky grin, dreamt of becoming an All Black when he was just a little boy. As he grew up he held on to his dream and worked hard to achieve it by practising his rugby skills with his friends and munching on lots of veggies so he would grow big and strong. Eventually his dream did come true. He earned his All Blacks jersey and made New Zealand proud.

The cute comic style illustrations and the simply told story in this picture book should appeal to little boys who love kicking a ball around.

Sadly today’s pre-schoolers won’t ever see Piri in action, as his All Blacks days are over. But granddads will be able to share their own memories of Piri Weepu’s spectacular performance during the quarterfinal of the 2011 World Cup against Argentina. And describe his stirring performances as the leader of the All Blacks haka.

This book is not just about rugby. It also gives children the motivational message that they can, and should, aim high and shoot for the stars and that “No dream is too big and no dreamer too small.”

Piri’s Big All Black Dream By: Jared Bell and Jimmy Diaz. Imprint Puffin RRP $19.99

First to the Top: Sir Edmund Hillary’s Amazing Everest Adventure
The story of how a small shy boy from Tuakau grew up to be the first man to climb to the top of the world must still rate as one of the world’s best adventure stories. It is eloquently retold in First to the Top.

The accompanying illustrations, especially those showing the most perilous parts of the journey, capture how dramatic it was and the huge risks Sir Ed and Tenzing Norgay took. It could all have ended badly but they had the courage, the skill and the determination to press onwards and upwards and finally conquered Mount Everest.

Sir Ed is one of our most loved Kiwi heroes, not only because of his climbing achievements but because he remained humble after the event. His classic words after being knighted by the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth were, “Now I’ll have to buy some new bee keeping overalls.”

He also proved to be a generous benefactor to the Nepalese people by establishing schools and hospitals for them (as well as teaching them rugby).

What a fantastic role model he was! This picture book would be an inspiring read for children from 4-10 years.
First to the Top (Sir Edmund Hillary’s Amazing Everest Adventure) Author: David Hill. Imprint : Picture Puffin RRP $25.00

John Joe’s Tune (How New Zealand Got its National Anthem)
The name John Joseph Woods won’t ring a bell in the minds of most New Zealanders. But he has a claim to fame for composing the tune of our national anthem. This picture book tells his story in a most imaginative way.

On a wintry night, in Lawrence Otago, John Joe the principal of the local school and a keen musician works through the night to meet a deadline for a competition to compose the music for the new National anthem.

Encouraged by his animal friends (a rat, a family of mice, a cat and a collie called Ross) he finishes it just in time and wins ten pounds and ten shillings. This was a very large prize which would be worth $2000 dollars in today’s money. He has the pleasure of performing the anthem in a wool store for the Premier’s visit with a choir of 600 children.

Preschool and junior school children will enjoy the rhythms and rhymes in the story. The delightful illustrations also give lots of clues as to how life was lived differently over a century ago in New Zealand such as a horse and carriage, an inkwell and dipping pen, a top hat and girls in lacy pinafores.

The words of our National Anthem in Maori and English and the musical score are at the back of the book.

Before taking a look my 9 year old granddaughter insisted that she already knew all the words in both English and Maori. She’d learnt them at school and proceeded to prove it. But after one verse she came to a grinding halt.

So, what about the rest? I said and showed her all five verses. This came as a big surprise as it will to many others as the All Blacks also only sing one verse in both languages before each game.

Has our national anthem become outdated? This is an ongoing debate which has recently been in the news again. The authors are on the side of retaining it. “It’s not too grand or boastful. It doesn’t rave or fuss. It’s the tune that means our country. And the land that’s home to us.”

John Joe’s Tune By: Tania Atkinson and Christine Ross. Duck Creek Press. RRP $29.99 hardback $19.99 paperback.