The Book of New Zealand Records and Firsts product reviews

I sat down and read this book last night. The first thing I noticed about the book was the cover. Its a striking blue colour and the yellow writing really stands out. The photos on the front of the zorbing and bungy jumping were really exciting images. They say to me "extreme", "sporty" and "New Zealand" all in one. Before I opened the book I thought I knew a few records that the book would contain.

Inside the book, the pages are all in yellow, black and white colour arrangement. Again this is really eye catching. It makes the book seem a little old fashioned. But I guess that will mean that it will not "age" itself when my daughter is older and reading about the records.

Some of the records in the book are really old, like the World's Fastest Indian. And some were really recent, though obviously the older the book gets the less recent it will be. There is a great mix of weird and wonderful records held by New Zealanders. Each page outlines one or two with lots of black and white photos of the record and record holder.

This is 77 pages long and was a very easy read. The language was quite "kiwi" which made it fun and familiar too. Because there is so much in here, it is easily re-readable and you learn new things each time. Plus I could see it coming in handy for a school project at some point, because it covers some pretty famous New Zealanders. $17 is a great price for this, because its something that will be referred to again and again.

"For a small population, this country has turned out a great many inventors and original thinkers. Part of the reason for that is to do with our being far away from the main part of the world and having to be more self-reliant. Plus the fact that we Kiwis like to 'give it a go' "

Every home in this wonderful country of ours needs to have a copy of this book. I'm organising a quiz night and will be using this book for a lot of questions.

I felt very proud to know we are the first for so many world records. Everything from fastest blindfolded texting to free diving!

This book is very easy to read and suits a wide age range. My 10 year old nephew found it fascinating and will be giving copies of this book as presents this year.

The price is right too :) I would have paid up to $20.

So sit back and be proud of what you read about our fellow kiwis!