The Proud Pūteketeke: How an Underbird Became a Wonderbird
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What happens when a pūteketeke egg turns up in a duck's nest? Find out in this entertaining picture book about Aotearoa New Zealand's Bird of the Century! This funny and fabulously New Zealand-flavoured tale of a puking Ugly Duckling who is, in fact, a grebe includes facts about what makes the pūteketeke so special and precious, as well as the real-life tale of how it came back from the brink of extinction to find international fame as the Bird of the Century! Every day Mama Duck proudly counts her clutch of six eggs - 'Tahi, rua, toru, wha, rimu, ono'. But one day, there's a big surprise - 'WHITU?' Out of the seventh egg hatches a very strange little duckling, who has zebra stripes, a red tuft on his head, and an extraordinary habit of eating his feathers and puking up stinky balls of fish bones. The other ducklings think he's ridiculous. Fed up with being laughed at, the little underbird decides to strike out on his own, but there are dangerous predators about. And will he ever find a friend who'll accept him in spite of all his quirks?
About the Author
Peter Millett is a highly popular children's author. He has written across a number of children's genres and all of his work is stamped with his trademark energy and zany humour - qualities that always delight young audiences on his school visits. He is the author of There Was an Odd Farmer Who Swallowed a Fly, the Johnny Danger DIY Spy series (Penguin), Boy Zero series (Faber & Faber), The Invincibles series (Scholastic) and several picture books published in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, North America and Europe. Peter's number one goal is to help make reading and writing a rewarding and fun-filled pastime for kids worldwide. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
Fifi Colston (Illustrator) is a straight-up creative with her fingers in many arty pies. She is an award-winning junior-fiction novelist and illustrator of more than 30 children's books including the bestselling Pearl in a Whirl by Catherine Robertson, Marvellous Marvin by Nadia Lim and the Little Yellow Digger stories by Peter Gilderdale and the Storylines Notable Junior Fiction novel Masher. She is also a poet and a television presenter of arts and crafts - firstly on TVNZ's 'What Now' and then 'The Good Morning Show'. She has been creating World of Wearable Arts designs and has been a finalist and an award-winner many times over. She has also worked in the New Zealand TV and film industry as a costumier, puppet maker and illustrator and trainee scriptwriter. In between writing and creating, Fifi enjoys visiting schools and community groups, inspiring budding artists and writers through workshops in creative process.