Brave Kahu & the Porangi magpie by Shelley Burne-Field

For her first children's fiction book, Shelley Burne-Field from Te Matau-a-Maui (Hawke's Bay) in New Zealand, wanted to write an adventure story in the vein of the classic Watership Down, that included love, hope, danger, birth and death. She says, "Kids can handle that sort of information. It is part of their lives and so we should talk about it. The best authors who write the best books don't dumb down their readers or take them for idiots." Her idea for this story came from watching a hawk get attacked by a small group of magpies and this is essentially the crux of the story - a flock of magpies have killed Poto's mother and are now threatening the harmony of the valley where her hawke family live. Adding to the drama is the prophecy of an impending earthquake and resulting flood that is going to hit the valley in just three days. 

The bird's eye view of the world, combined with Burne-Field's poetic language and rich description make this an absolute joy to read. Tangible and relatable sibling relationships and feelings make the characters come to life to the point that you almost forget you are taking on the viewpoint of a bird rather than a human (if it wasn't for the obvious bird behaviours!). If you don't come away from this book watching birds and trying to work out their internal monologue and their backstory it would be surprising, as the author paints such rich and complex lives for these characters. There are no perfect prototypes here - everyone is flawed and troubled to some degree. There is also a lot of drama, both within the family group as well as violent fighting between the birds and other animals. 

The use of Te Reo Maori language is fantastic but it is quite heavily used and it's often not possible to pick up the meaning of the word from the context clues alone. Reliance on flipping back to the Glossary is a reality of reading this, so it becomes quite a complex read, hence the slightly older age recommendation. Even the word 'autism' is given in Maori, used in reference to Poto's brother Ari. 

Overall, this is a beautifully written story full of heavy drama. While not one for the lover of light-hearted tales, this will be enthralling for those who can handle a more serious read and who can cope with the constant language switch up. It also makes a good read aloud, but due to the constant need for translation probably more suited to a one or one than a class novel. Teacher's notes and activity notes are available from the publisher.

Themes: Birds, Adventure, Family.

Nicole Nelson