Kiwi One and Kiwi Two product reviews

When you move to New Zealand from a land of relatively little unique wildlife, you realise how very blessed this little country is. Because of that, it isn't unusual to see children's books about this unique flora and fauna. My daughter loves any book about wildlife- whether it be native or not, but was particularly captivated by the two cheeky kiwi on the front of this book. We were both really excited to dive into this book, and see what adventures they might get up to.

The concept of the book is fairly simple, and perfect for younger children. Two kiwi wake up in the evening and decide that they want to play. In the process they wake up a whole host of other native wildlife, who join them in the fun. By the end of the night, and after lots of different adventures, the Kiwi decide that it's time to go back to sleep, whereas, for the other wildlife, it's now time to wake up, but they're exhausted. Now, parents, is anything sounding familiar here? The first time that I read the story I had to smile, as my daughter had been up a number of times the previous night, and I felt very much like the pukeko looks on the last page of the book.

My daughter really loved all of the different characters in the book. When you live in Auckland, we don't see most of this wildlife every day, so being able to introduce her to lots of them, and for her to understand the names, is really important to me. She particularly loved the tuatara who accompanies the kiwi on their adventures, and seems to love being in the middle of the action. The illustrations are great, and really help to enhance the fun and frolics of the book.

As well as being a really fun and engaging book for the little ones, it also has an important message about responsibility for others. Being able to talk with my daughter at the end of the book about how she felt the kiwi felt, and how she felt the other wildlife felt at the end of the night was really powerful. She started to understand that actions don't just affect yourself, but others as well, and thinking before you do something is the right thing to do. A really safe and fun way to introduce this lesson, and in such an accessible and engaging format.

Overall, a fantastic book. Full of frolics, fun and character. A great book for any little kiwi who loves to cause mayhem, and any parents who have been kept up a few too many times at night.

All my life I have enjoyed books, whether I am the one reading or if someone is reading to me. I have passed my love of books onto my 3 young children, and the youngest two love snuggling up to have cuddles and stories. While browsing the KIWIreviews site I saw a couple of books that I thought would be perfect, I put my request in and eagerly waited. When the review box arrived I couldn't contain my excitement and quickly opened the box. I was especially thrilled to see a copy of 'Kiwi One and Kiwi Two' on top. I decided that would be our bedtime story that night.

The first thing that my children and I liked on the cover was how playful the illustrator has made the Kiwis look, the whole cover is colourful and eye-catching. Upon starting to read it became obvious that this was a story with a rhyming pattern- I personally love these kinds of stories as I tend to make them into a song. The illustrations throughout the book are vibrant and certainly catch your attention. My children were in hysterics as we read aloud about the cheeky Kiwis trying to wake the other animals, including another native bird, the Kereru. Throughout the book my children told me they had favourite characters, I liked how the book subtl6 helped teach them the names of some more native creatures. My children are aged 6, 4, and 2 years of age and this story kept them entertained from start to finish, the storyline flows nicely and it was the perfect length to be read as a bedtime story and has already become one of the most requested books we have in the bookcase.

I would recommend this book to families of young children that are wanting an easy to read, entertaining book that isn't too long. The vibrant colours throughout help stimulate the mind, and you see plenty of different animals as you read. I look forward to bringing this book along to our local playgroup to share with the other parents and children.