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Operation Nest Egg Chick by Maria Gill, illustrated by Bruce Potter, designed by Heather Arnold

Deep down in a dark burrow
a father kiwi snorts and snuffles in his sleep.
Underneath him, a large creamy egg lies
snug and safe from pilfering predators.

Soon the kiwi chick hatches and has to fend for itself. Will it meet a fateful end or will the kiwi chick become part of the Operation Nest Egg programme? A creative non-fiction story about two kiwi chicks; one that becomes part of the Operation Nest Egg programme and the other ... you'll have to read it to find out. Each page includes photographs and text boxes about how kiwi are being saved.

The story has been written to appeal to young children with a story and for older children who want to know more with fact boxes.

Bruce Potter has drawn his illustrations on the computer using a mix of photographs and cartoon-like figures.  When asked why he drew the kiwi with large eyes, Bruce said he wanted children to be empathetic with the kiwi.

Heather Arnold and Maria Gill have included a video and photographs of kiwi releases Maria has organised for the Department of Conservation on Motuora Island:  http://www.mariagill.co.nz/kiwireleases.html

Anne Whalley in Magpies magazine said: "Operation Nest Egg is a perfect balance of picture book and nonfiction. The narrative reads aloud well, introducing young readers to the life of young kiwi and the dangers they face... Although I found the eyes of the caricature kiwi and some predators somewhat manic in appearance, Bruce Potter's illustrations are well crafted and add atmosphere to the 'story'. Highly recommended."

Rangitoto by Maria Gill, illustrated and designed by Heather Arnold

In the middle of the Hauraki Gulf bubbles begin to appear. Soon there are explosions and fire fountains. Maori on Motutapu and the mainland watch in awe, as a volcano forms in front of them. This is a creative non-fiction story about the birth of Rangitoto and what happens when humans interact with the island.

Along with the creative non-fiction story are fact boxes, diagrams, and glossary boxes to help the emerging reader become familiar with volcano facts and terms.  The story can be read to or by younger children of 5-7 year olds, and older children 8-12 years old can read the accompanying facts.  This book is very useful after visiting Rangitoto Island to satisfy the curiosity of young minds and very helpful for volcano studies.

Rangitoto was originally published in 2009 with Penguin New Zealand. It was shortlisted for the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards and was reprinted twice.  In 2013, the book was updated and made into a digital book with Pixel Book.  In October 2014, it was republished under the imprint Long White Cloud Books. It's bigger, it's been updated, and it has some different design features.  You'll notice that the white space has gone and the narrative now merges more with the artwork. Scientific knowledge about Rangitoto had advanced since the book had originally been published and  therefore Heather Arnold has updated several of the diagrams. 

Associate Professor Ian Smith from the University of Auckland fact-checked the book. Emeritus Professor Kenneth D. Collerson PhD, FAusIMM endorsed the book:

I try to keep up with the Bieber-stream media. You see what I did there? Rather than writing “mainstream” or even “lamestream,” I went with “Bieber-stream.” It’s something I do here. Keep folks on their toes. Comment on culture in clever ways. Thank me by buying a book.

In any case, the Justin Bieber-slanting CBS News has asked the kids of New Zealand (The Kiwiettes, if you will) to chill the hell out. Bieber Fever has reached George Romero-like levels, resulting in a frightening mob scene at the Auckland Airport, and Justin’s “mama” has suffered as a result. I want to think the best of our very distant neighbors to the southwest (or southeast should you decide to fly Air Emirates), so I’m a skeptic. I smell a PR person behind this. And if not that, then I smell Germans. Because as anyone who has set their watch to NZST will tell you, if you want meet someone from Munich, go to the Auckland Airport. I swear, it’s like Paris in 1942.

Of course, this is from a tourist’s perspective. I spent 3 months in New Zealand a couple years back. My wife and I bought a cheap car, and filled the trunk with camping equipment and drove down every road and hiked in as many corners of that lovely little country as we could and slept in huts and yards and hostels and on beaches. We met plenty of locals, very few Americans, and a shocking number of Klauses and Ilsas. We ran into one intrepid young Bavarian on two separate occasions: once while doing a jigsaw puzzle in a headlamp-lit hut along the Milford Track; once along the steaming, sulfurous moonscape of the Tongariro Circuit. He (and every other German we met) spoke flawless English and was a perfectly lovely fellow, so I don’t mean to disparage an entire people. I’m just intrigued by the disproportion. The French and Spanish and English and Italian combined didn’t even have half the representation.

I’m sure if I actually lived and worked in New Zealand, I’d shrug this German infiltration off as some backpacker urban legend. But I assure you it’s true, and I think it has resulted in a Bieber bumrush. Germans get a bad rap for their taste in music. So perhaps a band of backpackers were trying to regain some cred. Perhaps they weren’t fans at all, but musical freedom fighters trying to rid the world of a devastating future filled with soulless bubble-gum pop. Perhaps Bieber is lucky to have gotten out with his reputation intact. Have you ever read The Dead Zone?

It seems far-fetched until you watch the following clip. It’s taken from an interview in New Zealand shortly after the airport fiasco. Cunning as ever, Bieber strikes back by denying that the German language even exists. “I don’t know that means. We don’t say that in America,” he quips. It’s a brassy move, and will spark numerous conspiracy theories. I expect Glenn Beck to break it d