Adele Broadbent's Blog

Christmas is approaching fast and the creatures of the NZ bush are working on their wish lists.

Each bird and animal has a special wish at the top of their list.

Kiwi would like to fly.

Tui wants a mirror so he can see his glorious white tuft.

Snail would like to be faster!

But Kererū stays quiet, not willing to share her secret wish.

When Christmas Day arrives, all are excited to see their gifts and share their joy. Kererū however is still glum. But her bush friends are determined to make Kirihimete special for her too.

Meri Kirihimete,Kererū is a new New Zealand Christmas read for 2025.

With simple te reo woven through the story, this brightly illustrated, perfectly rhymed picture book, is great for Kiwi kids or NZ visitors wanting to take a little Kiwi humour, Christmas spirit and famous beasties and birdlife of Aotearoa home with them.

Themes of empathy, friendship and self-esteem back this fun, thoughtful Christmas treat.

Author – Juliette MacIver

Illustrator – Daron Parton

Publisher – Allen & Unwin

Picture Book

(2025, Allen & Unwin, NZ, Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ Author, NZ Illustrator, NZ Native Birds, NZ Native Animals, Christmas Wishes, Friendship, Empathy, Christmas Eve excitement, NZ Bush, Te Reo, Merry Christmas)

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A brother and sister take the reader on a wonderful tour through their Poppa’s workshop.

On the 2nd page in, they both peer through the small glass panels in Poppa’s garage doors, keen to show the reader what’s inside. These doors then open up wide in double page spreads, revealing a tidy workshop with hints of the special items being crafted.

They proudly introduce their Poppa with his tool apron, soft voice and snowy-white beard. Looking through the workshop, they point out many toys and wonders for the reader.

This year Poppa wants them to learn new skills and help him get ready. There is so much to do!

A new Christmas book for Kiwi kids by award winning author and illustrator Chelsea Cresswell, and Jessica Twohill.

The pages are full of things to look at, and the reader may realise something the siblings of the story haven’t. A wonderful nod to all of those craftspeople out there in kiwi sheds and garages, with the skills to build beautiful toys from scratch, with their own hands and creativity.

Author – Chelsea Cresswell

Illustrator – Jessica Twohill

Picture Book

(2025, Little Moa, Hachette, Christmas, Siblings, Grandfather, Poppa, Garage, Santa, Father Christmas, St Nick, Secret, Handmade toys, Family, Pride, Wonder)

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This bilingual picture book (English/ Gagana Samoan) is a South Pacific version of the Christmas classic – The Twelve Days of Christmas.

We all know the first line…

“On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

a Partridge in a Pear tree.”

Sure, we can find a pear tree in Aotearoa New Zealand, but a Partridge? Not likely for most.

A Manulele in a Mango Tree – Le Manulele o nofo i le Mago changes the English traditional version with its partridges, maids a milking, and lords a leaping, to jandals, tapa cloth, corned beef, mothers weaving, and chiefs a chatting.

Vibrantly coloured woodblock prints add even more joy to this Christmas song, making it even more relatable to down under singers.

A joyful addition to Christmas bookshelf collections.

Author – Sarona Aiona-losefa

Illustrator – Steven Dunn

Translator: Le’autuli Sauvao

Picture Book

(2025, Oratia Publishers, Aotearoa New Zealand, NZ, Sth Pacific, South Pacific, Pacifica, Classic song, Christmas, 12 Days of Christmas, Twelve Days of Christmas)

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It’s the day of Christmas Eve and a family is preparing for the coming big day.

There’s lights to hang, vegies to peel, decorations to sort, signs to write, and baking to do.

Suddenly the magical man himself arrives on the front lawn with all of his reindeer. Santa is really early! He has a problem, and only this family can fix it.

Santa Needs a New Bum!

With all the sitting and squishing down chimneys as he travels the night skies each Christmas, him bum has become lumpy and bumpy and completely out of shape. It is very uncomfortable and he’s hoping this family will be able to solve the conundrum.

Another …New Bum book in this funny New Zealand picture book series, perfect for every Christmas anywhere.

Everybody tries to help Santa with his problem – replacing his worn-out bottom. With large, clear rhyming text on mostly white backgrounds and bright, colourful illustrations, early readers will enjoy reading this Christmas conundrum to family members too.

Author – Dawn Mc Millan

Illustrator – Ross Kinnaird

Picture Book

(2025, Oratia Publishers, Aotearoa New Zealand, Series, Funny, Cooperation, Santa, Father Christmas, St Nicholas, Bum, Bottom, Problem, Solutions, Helping, Humour)

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The elves have worked hard getting ready for Christmas. They are putting the final touches on the presents when they hear a loud ROAR. Something’s happened to Santa!

They rush right up to the bathroom door where Santa has also been getting ready for his most important night of the year – Christmas Eve. The elves cannot believe their eyes. They can SEE Santa’s chin!

Where his famous, thick, snowy-white beard used to be, is his bare face. He’s slipped while shaving and his chin is completely bald. What are they going to do?

The elves and Santa begin to look for solutions to this terrible accident. They must find a way to hide that bare chin.

But bubbles, candy floss, and even their white cat can’t solve the problem.

Will Christmas have to be cancelled?

In perfect rhythmic rhyme that will make you smile, the problem of Santa’s shaving mistake is a new take on Christmas Eve chaos.

The possible solutions are hilarious and are more bonkers by the second – but one elf is thinking outside the square and just might have the answer to save Christmas.

Tons of fun!

Author – Caroline Crowe

Illustrator – Jess Pauwels

Picture Book

(2025, Faber & Faber, Xmas, Christmas, Santa Claus, St Nick, Father Christmas, Elves, Problem, Solution, Shaving, Beard, Christmas Eve, Humour, Funny)

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Mr Pottifer’s shop is all ready for Christmas.

The mince pies are delicious, the mistletoe happily hanging, and the shop pets dressed for the occasion. The last customer they expect is Santa himself!

Santa has a BIG problem. All of his reindeer have the flu. Who is going to pull the sleigh?

Mr Pottifer’s Parlour of Plants isn’t just any shop. There are magical items on these shelves. But just when they fix one problem, another comes along.

It’s back to Mr P’s for some more magic. Nothing can stop Christmas!

A large format picture book in full colour and rhyme with a magical tale to tell. Sick reindeer and rascally replacements, along with a sunk sleigh and some plant magic.

This picture book has it all. It’s funny, and full of action. There’s more than one problem to solve, and it’s a tension filled time as a special shopkeeper and friends save Christmas.

Author – Rachel Morrisroe

Illustrator – Steven Lenton

Picture Book

(2025, Penguin Books NZ, Animals, Action, Adventure, Humour, Fantasy, Magic, Christmas, Reindeer, Santa, Father Christmas, Rhyme, Snowing, Problems, Magic Seeds, Solutions, Co-operation, Positivity)

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Dragging herself and her bags through a strange dark town with her mother is not Flora’s idea of a great plan. Mum has rented a small cottage in a seaside town called Helmersbruk, in order to write her next novel and get away from the city with its sad memories for a while.

Flora knows she will never forget her wonderful, kind father, and losing him to illness was hard. But leaving her schoolyard bullies behind was not. After finally making it to the small but cosy cottage they will spend the month of December (1975), she decides that maybe time away from it all will be a good thing.

With her mum ensconced in her writing, Flora decides to explore the surroundings. Quite happy in her own company, she spends days in the grounds around the cottage which once belonged to the gatekeeper of a grand manor. Although sprawling and once grand, the manor house itself is locked tight against her curiosity and desire to explore inside.

Her vivid imagination fills in many gaps in the history of the house as she begins to clear a small section of garden. It’s only when she begins to find small figurines and a pair of glasses in the grounds, that Flora wants to know more about the family that once lived here.

She’s met a boy a couple of times in the grounds and she is keen to ask him if he knows more about the manor and its owners. The more she learns, the more desperate she is to explore inside. Finding a hedge maze is also exciting but not enticing enough for her to enter alone.

Strange whispers, the sound of a music box and a curious and completely white squirrel add to the mystic of the manor, until Flora is swept up entirely into its tragic history, and possible future.

A good old fashioned Christmas Mystery, set in an abandoned grand manor house and grounds. Perfectly enticing to hunker down under blankets and consume in the cold of Northern Hemisphere December, and an equally intriguing Summer read in the shade of a tree in an Australasian Christmas.

Each chapter has a full page illustration to kick it off, with chapter headings of an ornate gate. There are exactly 24 chapters, allowing the reading of it to be a booklover’s advent calendar right up to the big day itself.

Historically set in December 1975 with main character Flora, and December 1961 with a member of the manor’s original occupants; the reader gets the backstory needed to immerse themselves even further into this delicious tale.

Translated from Finnish, The Secret of Helmersbruk Manor is an advent calendar that can be read every year through multiple generations with its Victorian style, mystery and satisfying ending.

Author – Eva Frantz
Illustrator – Elin Sandstrom
Translator – A A Prime
Age – 10+

(2025, Pushkin Press, Mystery, 1975, 1961, Family, Abandoned Mansion, Ghosts, Squirrel, Secrets, Love, Wealthy family, Loss, Bullies, Bullying, Magic, Historical)

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Otto’s new life in a small Australian coastal town is a little different to California where he grew up. It was a turbulent childhood with an unreliable father who then took their mother’s savings and never looked back. The one thing that’s the same however, is the surf. Making friends within the local Surf lifesaving club is essential to Otto’s desire to fit in to his new home.

The reason he left the US races back to him as he smells smoke when out with his new friends. As they flee an Aussie scrub fire, his heart is pounding and his mind can’t believe it’s happening again. Fire!

When more blazes are reported, this time obviously deliberate, fingers are pointed at him as the new kid in town and the uncanny coincidence that he is nearby each one. While he avoids the local cop and tries to piece together the clues he gathers, he makes a friend in Milly. She’s an accomplished lifeguard and competitor and the daughter of the man behind the Life Guard Club.

Both Otto and Milly want to win in the upcoming competition, but know they have to find out who is responsible for the devastating arson attacks on the town first.

Who is lighting the fires and why?

Written in two viewpoints, the reader meets Otto (the new kid in town), and Milly who is desperate to prove herself to her father, as he always favours her twin brother. Frustrated at his over-protection, she is keen to win the upcoming Ironwoman competition, and also prove the town wrong about blaming Otto for the arson attacks.

The clues are unravelled between each viewpoint chapter, letting the reader piece together the mystery along with them. Along the way, Otto and Milly get closer, and respect each other’s determination to get the truth out in the open. But how do you do that without hurting the ones you love?

Perfect for those who love a real life, contemporary story, with no fantasy in sight. Authentic relationships and characters shine, along with interesting back stories that hold all the answers.

We Saw What You Started is also a celebration of Surf Life Saving in Australia, and a nod to the thousands of volunteers that save lives on Australian beaches every year. In the rear of the book are quotes from young life savers about why they love Surf Life Saving and a glossary of Surf Life Saving Competitions.

Author – Carla Salmon

Age – 11+

(2025, Pan Macmillan, Friendship, Bullies, Conflict, Crime, Family, Mystery, Prejudice, Real Life, Secret, Surfing, Beach life, Surf Life Saving, New kid in town, Romance, Arson, Fires, Blame, Ironman, Ironwoman, Competition, Twins, Proving Yourself, Revenge, Sport, Loyalty)

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Jordyn Monroe is relieved and nervous in equal measure. Finally a freshman at college, she is keen to fit in, make friends and not be the exception in her classes.

She’s glad to finally be away from home and her over-bearing parents, but sad at the way things have played out. It was supposed to be a time full of fun, mother/daughter bonding with decorating her dorm room, and shopping for clothes for her new life at college.

Frazier College however, is not the college her parents have raised her to attend. The expectations for her education have always been Yale and nothing else. The fact that she turned down her Yale admission to attend an HBCU (Historically Black College or University) has driven a wedge between her and home. But even away from her parent’s gaze and relentless pressure, she’s still keen to get top marks. But first – making her first true friends.

With the help of Dale Carnegie’s famous book ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People‘ this seems to be the easy part, as her roommates accept her instantly. Jordyn can’t believe this new part of her life as she attends parties and meets guys – not that they are in her near-future plan at all.

When her room mate’s brother is released from prison, he comes to stay with them. This is permitted on campus, so at first there are no alarm bells. He is a great cook, cleans their dorm rooms, and is fun to be around…. at first.

He’s older than them, and seems wise with all he has been through. The fact he has worked with famous rappers, adds to his appeal. But this appeal begins to turn into something else, and even Jordyn is drawn into his orbit. And the orbit is getting smaller and smaller. The fight to resist him and its results consumes her and her new life. Can she resist him and make her college choice all that she planned?

I snapped up a copy of this as soon as I laid eyes on it, as I’ve loved every Tiffany D Jackson title I’ve read. Although The Scammer is a little different, it still brought the eerie, insidious factor that I love about her books. What was even more affecting is the fact that The Scammer is based on a true story, and also includes mentions of real life events that readers can use to solidify the narrative even further.

Although The Scammer begins with a common ‘new freshman at college’ idea, it swiftly becomes so much more, with layers of character tragedy to discover. These character back stories are gradually revealed, along with a twist I never saw coming.

This twist will explain so much of character behaviour throughout The Scammer, making me want to read it all over again.

Author – Tiffany D Jackson

Age – 14+

(2025, Quill Tree Books, Harper Collins, College, Friendships, Relationships, Parental Expectation, Loss, Grief, Influence, Plans, Prejudice, Racism, Uprising, Fitting in, Race, Secret, Based on truth)

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Meg and her sister Liza have been enrolled in Douglas Academy – an elite school for the very rich and famous. As scholarship students, they are different from most of their peers, but are getting used to their new life after the loss of their parents.

Meg studies hard, and has made a close friend named Clara, but is worried about her little sister.

Liza doesn’t study or care that she is surrounded by the wealthy. A little ‘sister envy’ is also in the mix as Liza is gorgeous and confident, attracting friends easily. Meg prefers to hunker down in the library – but Liza is a social butterfly, going to parties and having fun.

Until she doesn’t.

Overnight, Liza insists on being called Elizabeth and is found in the library, studying. Meg’s feelings are split down the middle. She’s happy Liza is finally taking the school seriously, but is worried about her incredibly strange and sudden switch of behaviour.

What have they done to Liza McLean?

According to Meg, THEY include Liza’s friends, people she’s met at parties and maybe even school staff. Something is definitely not right at Douglas Academy.

Getting to know the only student who lives off campus (and also the wealthiest), is a bonus as Meg asks questions and bodies are found. Preparations for the annual prestigious Douglas Academy Garden Party are in full swing, but that’s not all that is going on behind the scenes.

School alumni are gathering, as Meg looks for answers about her sister’s transformation, her father’s death and her mother’s murder conviction.

A Mystery/Conspiracy theory/Love story all stirred into Dark Academia.

The school setting is one for only the ultra wealthy. But how did they become so, and why do they stick with only their own after leaving the school?

An interesting premise kept me reading as a love story bloomed between the pages, and two viewpoints are given to the reader. One from main character scholarship student Meg, and the other from an ultra-wealthy Benedict Hargreaves (the 4th).

The plot is straight-forward and thought provoking as an elite academy pumps out clever, single-minded ex-students into the world of wealth, power, and ruthlessness, for decades. What are they doing differently?

Author – Amy Doak

Publisher – Allen & Unwin

Age – 12+

(2025, School, Murder, Crime, Questions, Dark Academia, Wealthy, Rich, First Love, Romance, Friendship, Conspiracy, Power, Tech, Computers, Hacking, Mystery, Investigating, Plants, Secret)

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