I love New Zealand books and I’m happy to shout it from the rooftops.  We have so many wonderful, talented authors and illustrators here in NZ who write for kids of all ages.  My personal mission, as a librarian and a blogger is to spread the word about New Zealand books and get as many kids (and adults) reading them as possible.  I’ve also had the absolute joy of judging our New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, which really highlighted the breadth of literature that we have here in New Zealand for our young people.

I’ve read and reviewed many NZ books here on My Best Friends Are Books over the years.  I’ve got so many favourite books that I come back to again and again (especially picture books).  Here are just a few of my favourite NZ books for kids and teens, along with the links to my reviews if you want to know more about them:

• Red Rocks by Rachael King
• The Three Bears (Sort of) and Little Red Riding Hood (Not Quite) by Yvonne Morrison and Donovan Bixley
• The Queen and the Nobody Boy by Barbara Else
• A Winter’s Day in 1939 by Melinda Szymanik
• The Prankster and the Ghost by R.L. Stedman
• The Ghosts of Tarawera by Sue Copsey
• Stray by Rachael Craw
• The Bakehouse by Joy Cowley
• Toucan Can by Juliette McIver and Sarah Davis
• Henry’s Map by David Elliot
• Dear Vincent by Mandy Hager
• My Brother’s War by David Hill
• Melu by Kyle Mewburn, Ali Teo and John O’Reilly
• The Nature of Ash by Mandy Hager
• The Karazan Quartet by V.M. Jones
• The Juno Series by Fleur Beale
• The Dinosaur Rescue Series by Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley
• The Brain Sucker by Glenn Wood
• Northwood by Brian Falkner
• Steel Pelicans by Des Hunt (and anything else by Des Hunt)
• Super Finn by Leonie Agnew
• Wolf in the Wardrobe by Susan Brocker
• A Necklace of Souls by R.L. Stedman

There are many more fantastic books that I’ve missed off this list, so it is no way complete.  I have a New Zealand category here on the blog so if you want to find more New Zealand content click on the category on the right hand side of the page.