New Zealand Living History Books

Andresen, OM:  Johanna's World (In Print). Story of a 17yo Norwegian girl who comes to New Zealand in 1873.  Recommended for Older children.

Beames, Margaret:  The Parkhurst Boys (1986).  Set in Auckland, 1842. 

 Bell, Colin Kane:  Po-Ling:  The Cook From Ti-Tree Point (1963). 

Cox, Mary:  Wild Manes in the Afternoon.  Kaingaroa, 1920's.  (1976)  

Dallas, Ruth: The Children in the Bush (1969),   The Wild Boy in the Bush (1971),    The Big Flood in the Bush (1972),   Holiday in the Bush (1983)  Set in a Southland sawmilling settlement, 1890's.     Shining Rivers.  (1979)   Central Otago goldrush.

De Roo, Ann:  Jacky Nobody (1983) and The Bat's Nest (1986).  Both about the war in Northland, 1846.  Traveller. (1979).  Tells an imaginary tale about Jock Mackenzie's dog.

Dunlop, Beverley:  Earthquake Town (1984).  About the Napier earthquake.  Spirits of the Lake.  (1988).  A time-slip story touching Te Kooti's times.

Diamond, John T, and David Lowe:  Kauri 91985).  The early milling days.

Ell, Gordon:  New Zealand's Story in Stamps. (1987).   New Zealand Ghost Towns and Glimpses of the Past.  (1988).

England, Clarice:  Druscilla.  (1980).  Growing up in Taranaki in the 1880's.

Fergusson, Bernard:   Captain John Niven. (1972)  On a steamer servicing isolated costal communities, mostly Maori.

Finlayson, Roderick:  The Springing Fern.  (1965)  Changing times in a South Auckland kainga, from missionary times to 1860's.  The Coming of the Musket.  (1955)   Maori Wars.  Changes in the Pa.   (1977)  How the Maori's are affected by European arrivals.School Bulletin Publication.

Gadd, Bernard:  Laya (1985).  Old-time Polynesians seeking islands to settle.  Dare Not Fail (1986).   Chatham Islands in Moriori times.

Hebley, Diane :  The Gully that Gabriel Found (1985).  Otago goldrush, 1861.  Jock Mackenzie and his Dog.  (1986).  Canterbury 1950's.  The Ballad of Young Nick (1987).  Captain Cook's landfall, 1769.  (Appetiser series, Longman Paul)  Books Illustrated by her husband Gary.

Johnston, Phyllis:  No One Went to Town (1980).  Taranaki hill country around 1900.  Black Boots and Buttonhooks (1982).  Same family moves to King Country.  A Comet in the Sky (1985).  Third in the series.

Locke, Elsie:  The Runaway Settlers (1965, and in print currently).  Canterbury, 1860's.  The End of the Harbour (1968).  Manukau, 1861, tensions rising with war in Taranaki.   Explorer Zach (1978).  Growing up near Timaru, 1820's.  Journey under Warning (1983).  Nelson and Marlborough, Wairau surveys and conflict, 1843.  The Kauri and the Willow (1984).  56 short pieces, fiction and non-fiction, 1800 - 1940.  A Canoe in the Mist (1984).  Tarawera eruption, 1886.

McCullough, Beverley:  No Moa (1982) and Pre-historic New Zealand and its People (1984).

Orwin Joanna:  Ihaka and the Summer Wandering (1982);  Ihaka and the Prophecy (1984).  Moa hunter times.  The Guardian of the Land.  (1985).  Takes us back to early Maori times in Kaikoura.

Owen, Winifred:  Captives and Castaways (1984).  The Holmdale sunk by German raiders, World War II.  

Reed, A.H:  The Story of New Zealand.  (Various versions for different ages.  Published around the 1950's).

Reed, A. W:  

Games the Maoris Played.  Detailed accounts of children's games which were played long before white people came to New Zealand; with many fascinating pictures by Dennis Turner.

Myths and Legends of Maoriland.  This book was awarded the Esther Glen Medal for the best children's book of 1947. Here are retold many of the adventures of legendary Maori heroes. All the tales are illustrated with fascinating pictures by W. Dittmer and George Woods.

Wonder Tales of Maoriland.   Tales for young children from the legends of the Maori people. The reader enters into the lives of a Maori boy and girl, and everyday life in a Maori village in pre-pakeha days is clearly portrayed.  Popo the genial old Maori story-teller recounts some of his favourite age-old stories to his young ? Illustrated in line and colour by A. S. Paterson.

Maori Tales of Long Ago.   Companion volume to Wonder Tales of Maoriland.  With more exciting adventures which Hine and Rata have with their friend Popo, and the tales they heard him tell. 

How the Maoris Came.  Illustrated by H.D.B. Dansey. Full of interest are these stories of how the Maoris sailed from their ancestral home in the Pacific, how they braved the wide ocean in their great canoes, and how they landed and settled on the shores of New Zealand.

How the Maoris Lived.  An introduction to the early Maoris.    Explains how the arrived, what their villages wre like, clothes they wore, the food they ate and how they cooked it, what they did in their leisure time and more.  Illustrated by Russell Clark.

How the White Men Came.  First came the explorers, next the sealing and whaling ships, then the traders and the missionaries, followed by the immigrants from England and Scotland. The story of these great events in our history is set out in this very readable book. Illustrated by Russell Clark.

Pastoral Farming in New Zealand. The growth and development of New Zealand from the days of the Maoris and the coming of the first settlers to the present day.  Illus. by AG & LC Mitchell.

Roads in New Zealand.   Written in collaboration with J. Halket Millar, this book tells the development that has taken place in New Zealand since the Maoris first travelled across rivers and down the coasts in their canoes, and through narrow trails across the mountains and through the bush, to the present day when great earth-moving machinery makes ribbon-like highways across the land.  Ill. by LC Mitchell

Islands of the Pacific.   The fascinating story of coral atolls, volcanic islands, Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian migrations, visits of explorers, whalers, blackbirders, traders, missionaries, and a vivid picture of the islands today. Illus. by Conrad Frieboe.

How Captain Cook Came to New Zealand.  A simple story of the arrival of the first British discoverer of New Zealand. Profusely illustrated by Conrad Frieboe.

Whaling in Early New Zealand.  More than a hundred years ago ships of every nation visited New Zealand, which provided a centre for deep sea whaling in the South Pacific. Later shore stations were established. The author describes vividly what happened in those far off days and the book is illustrated by Conrad Frieboe.

Sidelights on New Zealand History  (1971).  Written for School use. Contains short (less than one page usually) articles on NZ history with questions for review, thought, or for further digging.  For the older child.

Rountree, Kathryn: Parihaka (1986).  Taranki, 1880's. Ruapekapeka Pa (1986).  Northland 1846.  Moremonui (1987).  Inter-tribal battle on the Kaipara Coast, 1880's.  Jessie Jenkin's Diary (1989).  A young girl's voyage out on the Lord Auckland, 1842.

Saunders, Kenneth:  Jimmy and the Bridge.  Story of an old cart horse that helped in the building of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.  Illustrated by Clive Luscombe.

Sutton, Eve:  Green Gold (1976).  Thames goldfields 1860's.  Johnny Sweep (1977).  From whaling ship to gumfields.  Tuppenny Brown (1977).  Parkhurst boy, 1842, Auckland.  Moa Hunter (1978). Surgeon's Boy (1983).  On ship and on land, 1840's.  Kidnapped by Blackbirders (1984).  Pacific Islanders taken by force to work on Australian plantations last century.  Valley of Heavenly Gold.  (1987).  Otago goldfields, 1860's.

Temple, Philip: New Zealand Explorers.  (1985)

Whitehouse, Elaine:  Woodsmoke (1990).  Smallpox epidemic and friends on the marae, Northland, early this century.

New Zealand - A History in Pictures.  Not a living book as such, but I've included it because it is a wonderful picture book for little children.  There's a colourful two page spread for each stage of New Zealand history, from Gondwanaland to current times.  Has side notes which are great reading for older children.  Paintings by Peter Gossage.
                      

Graphics from Putiputi's Palace

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