New Zealand Weather product reviews

New Zealand Weather is a book with a difference - it is designed for older children (intermediate school age and older), but I found parts of it were readily accessible to younger children as well. I introduced it to three children - one very bright fifteen-year-old, a nine-year-old who is an avid reader, and a five-year-old. All enjoyed it at their own level, which was what I had expected given the attractive layout and organisation. It made it accessible to all three.

Miss Fifteen was the first to read it. She is an academic student, reading the book from start to finish and informing me afterwards that she had learned a couple of new things. She was fascinated to learn why kumara are planted in raised beds in this country - something I had always wondered too - and to find that local weather forecasts are often generated overseas! We discussed her reading experience afterwards and it was clear that this was an academic text from her point of view, something she would consult again in the future.

Next came Mr Nine. We quickly found that the sections in small text were more challenging, but by reading just the information in the larger font, he could gain a great deal of information on a simpler scale. For me, this made the book a winner as he could revisit it in the future when he was older. Rather than reading from start to finish, he took my suggestion and treated it like a reference book. This meant he was leafing back and forth, reading the pages out of order as something interesting caught his eye.

Finally, Miss Five and her mother tackled the book together. Most of the written material was too complex for a child of this age, but the illustrations were often self-explanatory and her mother could rephrase some of the accompanying text where necessary. They took their time over the book, reading a little at each session and talking about the content. Miss Five was impressed by the inclusion of Te Reo weather terms. She already knew wera (hot) and makariri (cold), but there were new words like marangai (stormy) and ua (rain, rainy). The inclusion of references to Maori history and weather indicators were also interesting.

Through the book, she found out about prevailing winds; this prompted her mother to take out a compass and show her how to check the wind direction at her home. Miss Five was also pleased that there was a message about climate change included in the book. Children are never too young to learn about their environment and the need to be kaitiaki (caregivers) of our planet.

Since this is a book that can be used as a reference book for several years as a child matures and is able to access the more detailed information, it would be preferable to issue it in hard cover format. This would increase its durability and ensure it is available in as-new condition. I can see it as being of particular value in a family where there are children of different ages, each able to access the information at his or her level.