Kids: New Zealand books

There are so many fantastic authors in Aotearoa who have written so many fantastic books! We've picked out a few for you in a mixture of new and not-so-new.

Updated July 28, 2025
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Wellington City Libraries Children's team at Wellington City Libraries
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Lizard's tale
Chan, Weng Wai
Paper Book
It's Singapore in 1940, war is just around the corner - but twelve-year-old Lizard doesn't know that. He lives in Chinatown above a tailor's shop, surviving on his wits and hustling for odd jobs. When he steals a small teak box containing a Japanese code book from a Raffles Hotel suite, he finds...
Detective Beans & the case of the missing hat
Chen, Li
Paper Book
Meet Detective Beans, the best kitten detective in town, equipped with his tie, brown trench coat, and--GASP. It's gone! His detective hat is missing! Follow along to discover the charming, whimsical, and mysterious world of Detective Beans. Meet Detective Beans (just Beans for...
The great piratical rumbustification ; & The librarian and the robbers
Mahy, Margaret.
Paper Book
A former pirate and a band of robbers meet their match in these two funny stories for children. Piratical Rumbustification introduces us to Alpha, Oliver, and Omega Terrapin, home alone with none other than Orpheus Clinker, a reformed pirate cleverly transformed...

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