Kiwi, our national bird, are facing a precarious battle for survival on mainland New Zealand as predators, especially cats, dogs and stoats, take their toll. Inspired however by the success of Backyard Kiwi, a kiwi recovery project that she is heavily involved with around her home on the Whangarei Heads, illustrator Heather Hunt has teamed up with writer Kennedy Warne to produce another stunning natural history book for children.
It's my Egg (and you can't have it) is both beautiful, but powerful. It captures the reality of life for a kiwi trying to hatch an egg, fending off attacks from cats and dogs, and ultimately being saved from stoat predation by trapping.
This is an important, inspiring book for children that deftly communicates the importance of recovery programmes for our native wildlife. Heather Hunt and Kennedy Warne's stunning book The Cuckoo and the Warbler, from 2016, was selected by Storylines as a Notable Book, and It's my Egg is a book of equal quality.
