New Zealand Books

A friend lent me this when we lost the older of our two kitties. The way Dennis Hamley tells the story of how the kitties get to know each other was exactly how our two kitties reacted to each other! He uses simple words and concepts to explain how a cat might be lonely when his cat-friend is gone. I loved the illustrations, too. This is a children's book, but very nice for anyone who has been through this type of experience. (Yeah, okay, I cried, I admit it.)

Dr.Claudia Orange grasps the sense of a displaced people in her book about the Maori and their experience after making the Treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown. There has been an injustice over the reconciliation of indigenous rights and Crown rights, and it still needs to be resolved. This author seems to want to set forth the facts, and presents an enlightened viewpoint.

For anyone interested in the Pacific Rim, and in comparative history, this book provides a fascinating introduction to the beginnings of an environmental consciousness in the West and in Australia. Centred on plants and water, Tyrrell provides a convincing number of examples of shared problems between California and Australia; he also highlights the vexed issues of introduced species, and the aesthetic ideologies which accompany the use of "exotic" plants.
It is solid history, but also fun to read.

This book offers a lot more than its title might suggest. Murray's survey of opinion formation about Japan in the 1930s through the Australian media ranges from political and diplomatic machinations to the intrigues of propaganda campaigns and espionage. It is richly researched, steeped in primary sources, including the author's own interviews, yet written with a light touch that maintained this reader's interest. The book's price-tag is certainly a discouragement, but it is well edited and sturdily made. It deserves a wide readership.

Developed from a PhD thesis, this book explores a number of different ways in which Australians have come to understand (or imagine) the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the post-War period.

The value of this book is in examining the different ways countries and cultures can view each other. While written from an Australian perspective, the approach taken by Kendall could be applied to any relationship between two countries: it identifies and discusses some of the formulation of 'us' and 'them' viewpoints.

My own interest in China dates from the early 1970s when the appointment of Stephen FitzGerald as Australia's first Ambassador to the PRC marked the beginning of a new, more positive era in Sino-Australian relations.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in better understanding some of the factors in the relationships between, and perceptions of, different countries and cultures.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

"We live in New Zealand" is a different sort of geography book for young students in that it offers first-person interviews with people from various occupations and ages from across New Zealand, from shepherd Matthew Parsons to Elwyn Thomas, a pipeline worker, each provided in a two-page spread. Consequently, it makes for an interesting supplemental volume to your standard juvenile geography books about New Zealand that look at the history and government, agriculture and industry, cultures and geography of the country. There is a list of facts in the back that touch on some of these elements, but author John Ball's purpose here is to let young readers find out what it is like to live in New Zealand today. Consequently, "We Live in New Zealand" offers the stories of a schoolgirl and a teacher of Maori arts, an artist and a charter-vessel skipper, an alpine guide and a traffic officer, with 28 interviews in all, providing a nice cross-section of the people and occupations of New Zealand. Each is accompanied by photographs of the interviewee along with where they work and live, taken by Chris Fairclough. Final note: I wanted to mention that there is a notation at the end of one of the chapters that the young person interviewed was tragically killed which at work in the New Zealand bush. Stumbling across that might be upsetting to some young readers (given personal circumstances), so teachers might want to take that into account before assigning this particular volume.

This is the story of a young bride who goes with her husband to the "Elsey", an outpost ranch located in the Northern Territory of Australia. This book is set in the late 1890s. The life she finds there, and the people, are engaging and fascinating. The burdens and joys she shoulders as she learns outback methods and manners truly hold your interest completely. It is a story of a time and place that few know anything about. This is an Australian classic and will hold the reader's attention. You will race through this one to find out what happens and what does happen will make you both happy and sad.

Best educational book on the climate and weather of New Zealand ( and Australia) ever written. Good for one studying docturates on meteorology.

This is the first comprehensive whale watching guidebook to come out of Australia (other than the earlier work by Ross Isacc). There is an introduction to whale and dolphin biology, evolution, etc. plus some historical whaling facts and also a chapter on whale and dolphin watching both from land and from cruises. The best part of the book would be its excellent coverage of whale watching spots in and around Australia and New Zealand and the fantastics pics. The thing I did not like about this book was its actual style of writing. I rather read something that was written in the style used in Discovery Travels series where they write in the way that allows you to really picture the place in your head. Overall, still the best whale watching guidebook for Oceania.

I purchased this out-of-print book in an attempt to track down some anecdotal at-sea sighting information for Tasmacetus referenced in another publication. Although this book does not document the sighting info I was looking for, it's full of quite a bit more useful information than I expected! 30+ pages of taxonomy, whaling info, natural history notes and first aid for stranded marine mammals is followed by identification sections. A two page chart showing blowing/surfacing characteristics of some of the larger whales (including all rorquals) is particularly useful, as is a 2 page key to toothed whales using teeth. The information on Ziphiid whale tooth placement is summarized well. This is followed by a species directory, divided into large whale, medium-sized whale, and smaller whale/dolphin sections. This is further divided into sections by morphological similarity (e.g. large whale with dorsal fin/without dorsal fin). All similar species are pictured together with outline drawings of head, and text summaries of key characters. Lastly, the species accounts include further information, including photos of stranded animals from the area. All in all, this is a useful addition to my cetacean reference shelf. The taxonomy is a bit dated, and some of the Ziphiid stranding information has been outdated by DNA testing of museum specimens. But most students of this group will already know this.