Imagine. You're a bird, only fifteen inches long. You spend half the year on one side of the planet and then you fly to the other side for the rest. Round trip: eighteen thousand miles. On the way there you touch down in many different countries; you're just a passing visitor. And on the way back . . . there is
nowhere
to stop. Just ocean for seven thousand miles.
A story about two true fantastical flights; that of the godwits around and across the Pacific and a woman's emigration from Croatia to New Zealand.
A young girl and her grandmother, Baba Didi, are on a beach watching the godwits preparing to migrate. Talking about the birds's courageous journey across the Pacific resonates with generations of human migration, from the Maori reaching New Zealand to Baba Didi's journey from Croatia.
Illustrated with warmth and radiance this is an epic story told with charm. A tale of the resilience it takes "just to get there" when the going is rough and the road is long.
A portion of the money from the sale of each book will be donated to UNICEF.
Nicola Muir
is a teacher, writer, and regular columnist for New Zealand newspaper the
Northern Advocate
.
Annie Hayward
is an abstract and figurative painter. She exhibits widely and has been commissioned for many paintings in New Zealand and internationally.
Helen Clark
is the former prime minister of New Zealand and is now head of the United Nations Development Programme.