Welcome to Kererū Books! Home to our children’s books; Peka and Koro: Friends of the Forest, Kererū’s BBQ, Kererū’s BBQ Colouring Edition and Peka and Koro Activity Book. Our pukapuka (books) are very proudly made in Ōtautahi, Aotearoa (Christchurch, New Zealand). They are written, illustrated, designed, published and printed right here in New Zealand. We hope you enjoy looking around our website and books. Please feel free to get in touch, we love hearing from our readers.

Karyn - Author

Kia ora! Thanks for checking us out! I am Karyn a full time mum and part time author/publisher. I have two beautiful tamariki, Indie and Jett who both share my love of the outdoors (especially the beach), our native birds and books. Our first book, Kererū's BBQ was inspired by my daughter Indie and our many visits to the Bay, exploring the picturesque surroundings and getting to know all the stunning local birds. I'm not one to sit still for long, I always have creative projects on the go, usually starting one before finishing the last haha. I hope you and your little ones love our books.

Jess - Illustrator

Kia ora, I hope you enjoy reading our books with your little ones. I have definitely enjoyed illustrating these wonderful New Zealand Natives. I am always being artistic in one way or another, bunching flowers, painting, crafting or illustrating. My family and I love the outdoors and we're so grateful to call this place home. I have three animal loving, fast growing boys, Blake, Keanu, and Darcy whom I've loved sharing these books with. I am also a Mum to a black and white cat called Lola.

Kererū - New Zealand Wood Pigeon

Kererū is a New Zealand wood pigeon, known in te reo Māori as Kererū or kūkū or kūkupa. This big boy is the star of Kererū's BBQ and winner of Bird of the Year 2018. A well known and much loved resident of the Bay, where Kererū's BBQ is based is the majestic Kererū (pronounced "care-dare-doo" ). He is often found nestled in a kōwhai tree, feasting on fruit, getting tipsy of fermented fruit or keeping watch over the Bay from the power lines. Kererū are wide spread throughout New Zealand, a common sight in forests and even in some cities.

Peka - New Zealand Lesser Short-tailed Bat/Pekapeka

Peka is a baby lesser short-tailed bat, known in te reo Māori as pekapeka-tou-poto. Lesser short-tailed bats usually never leave the cover of deep, dark old native forests. Peka is a very adventurous and brave little bat. The lesser short-tailed bat is an endangered ancient species unique to New Zealand and is found only at a few scattered sites. Bats are New Zealand’s ONLY native land mammal. They are smaller than a mouse, weighing a tiny 12-15 grams when fully grown. Unlike most bats, which catch their prey in the air, the lesser short-tailed bat has adapted to ground foraging. It is one of the few bats in the world which spends large amounts of time on the forest floor, using its folded wings as front limbs for scrambling about.

Koro - New Zealand Giant Kauri Snail/Pūpū Rangi

Koro is a giant kauri snail, known in te reo Māori as pūpū rangi. They look just like normal garden snails, but are HUGE! Their shell can grow up to 80mm in diameter and they can live for 20 years or more. The kauri snail is a very unique meat eater, only about 10% of snails in the world are carnivorous. They come out at night to feed on earthworms, slugs and small snails. Although they are called kauri snails, they don’t particularly like kauri trees as the ground is often to dry for their favourite food.... earthworms! These giant snails belong to the oldest family of land snails on earth, dating back 200 million years. They are now threatened and only found in a few small areas.