Ruru, Night Hunter product reviews

Recently at my children's primary school they have been learning about New Zealand and the local environment, including the animals that live here. We have previously received a copy of Tuatara, which was written by the same people. When I saw this book available to request, I thought that it would be a good resource for them to use, especially as the Morepork is our only native owl. My children love to read non-fiction books and find it exceptionally easy to soak up the information when it is in a picture book format.

The cover is striking there is certainly no doubt about that, with those bright eyes staring at you, almost like they are staring into your soul, and that sharp beak. Just from looking at both covers I am excited as the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and so lifelike, I could not wait to see more and read some facts to the kids. My favourite illustration in the book had to be the page featuring the mama Ruru and her two babies who she had just given some food to.

As we started to read the story, I noticed that there were lots of descriptive words used to describe everything including the scenery, this helps to form a picture in the readers mind as well as having the illustrations to look at. On most pages as well as the story there are handy little snippets of information to read, I learnt that the owls have serrated edges on their feathers to muffle the sound from the air, my children liked learning that they spread their wings and puff up when they feel threatened.

The story shows us what a Ruru would typically do at night, from flying around once the daytime animals go to sleep, to hunting for some food to feed to their chicks, and of course trying to stay safe away from predators. We learn that some predators of the owls include possums and cats which we see try to capture the Ruru, and we also read about how the Ruru can die if they chase insects that are drawn to lights such as a vehicles headlight.

Overall, we loved this book, and not surprisingly it will be going to our local school for their library so a lot more children can read, learn and enjoy it. I hope that the author writes more about local species as I think this would be a great series for children to read and they learn in a fun way!