New Zealand Birds of the Week: Ngā Manu o te Wiki – Read NZ Te Pou Muramura

Monday’s bird is noisy and bold.

Reviewed by Louana McCormack, Librarian, Ōpaheke School

The popular nursery rhyme ‘Monday’s Child’ gets a new spin in this book by Darryl and Gillian Torckler. Each day features a different native or introduced bird from Aotearoa with big and bold photographs.

Alongside the big double spread photograph is a smaller one, accompanied by a short snippet of information e.g. “Tarāpunga/Red-Billed Gull – Noisy birds that are seen on most beaches yet are under threat of extinction.” I really enjoyed this extra layer of information that takes it from merely a nice rhyming book to one with more non-fiction content and acting as a springboard for further research of the birds by the reader.