Our Backyard books
About Our Backyard books
Our books are place-based travel stories for children. It seems like the lives of many kiwi kids are more and more confined to narrow spaces - the shopping mall, and the the all powerful internet. But we know there are alternatives. We aim to create deeper connections to Aotearoa by engaging children with ideas of travel. Through our books we want to nurture an early connection to Aotearoa - a connection to our backyard for all kiwi kids.
So to do this, our books are designed to be memory and identity-building. We focus on telling stories that children will love, and that build their sense of belonging to New Zealand. Even when travel may be restricted or limited, kiwi kids can learn about their important place in the world. No matter where they may live, Our Backyard books connects all kiwi kids back to Aotearoa. We also support the tiaki promise . . .
Support for Our Backyard books
The artwork in the books is quite charming, and the stories are engaging for both children and
adults. The possibility that the authors may be able to extend the books into a six-book series
is exciting.
This is exactly the kind of New Zealand-specific content that we need to engage our children and families in Aotearoa.
Lesley Burkes-Harding,
Chair of the Akaroa Community Arts Council
My granddaughter, Maggie, aged 5, loved both the story and the pictures in ‘Ella goes to Akaroa’. She delighted in identifying with both the main character, Ella, and with having that special time in familiar surroundings at Granny and Grandad’s place that many of us remember from our own childhoods. She doesn’t know it yet, but any others in this series will be heading her way!
Gloria Moyle,
Retired teacher and poet grandmother