The Song of the Kauri, a joint project with illustrator Dominique Ford, is a visual and verbal feast.
This beautiful, hard-covered picture book takes the form of a fable.
With an omniscient narrator in the oral tradition of Maori myth, we are witness to the mighty kauri's struggle to find his place as he implores the earth, the sun and the moon for friendship.
The kauri, meanwhile, is witness to the land's physical transformation over a century or more.
He watches silently as people fight each other and wreck the land, replacing much of the natural with the artificial.
Ford depicts the changing landscape through dazzling explosions of colour.
Adults and children can engage in the kauri's song as we consider how precious our natural resources are.
Ages 5-10.
• Jessie Neilson is a University of Otago library assistant and mother.
