New Release (last 3 months)

Four pivotal moments in NZ history are examined through a variety of source materials and commentary that enlivens the event and describes its impact on our society and our growth as a global nation. A resource for all schools and libraries - a link to the onetree-house.com websi...te will hold downloadable resources.
Read more

A moving graphic memoir of growing up Pasifika in New Zealand, written and illustrated by our fast-talking PI Poet Laureate, Selina Tusitala Marsh.

The very first maps were oral maps made by early Polynesian and Maori settlers which were waypoints, described as 'survey pegs of memory', lists of places in songs, chants, karakia and stories that showed direction. Hundreds of years later, the Dutch Abel Tasman sailed here and m...ade the first attempt at a physical map; followed more than 100 years later by Cook, whose map was much more detailed as he circumnavigated the country. Once the detail of the coastline was filled in, more detailed maps of the interior were made by those in search of resources to exploit. A clever look at New Zealand history and also at the intriguing tradition of map making.
Read more

The best-known modern Chinese fairy tale is the story of three sisters from Shanghai, who for most of the twentieth century were at the centre of power in China. It was sometimes said that `One loved money, one loved power and one loved her country', but there was far more to the... Soong sisters than these caricatures. As China battled through a hundred years of wars, revolutions and seismic transformations, each sister played an important, sometimes critical role, and left an indelible mark on history. Red Sister, Ching-ling, married Sun Yat-sen, founding father of the Chinese republic, and later became Mao's vice-chair. Little Sister, May-ling, was Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of the pre-Communist Nationalist China and a major political figure in her own right. Big Sister, Ei-ling, was Chiang's unofficial main adviser. She made herself one of China's richest women - and her husband Chiang's prime minister. All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant attacks and mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak. The relationship between them was highly charged emotionally, especially once they had embraced opposing political camps and Ching-ling dedicated herself to destroying her two sisters' world. Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, exile, intrigue, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a monumental journey, from Canton to Hawaii and New York, from exiles' quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape the history of twentieth-century China.
Read more

Get ready to travel through time with 21 dazzling stories of daring and deceit, reward and punishment. Meet gods and goddesses, serpents, coyotes, talking fish and clever spiders, and discover different versions of how the world began. This beautifully illustrated book features v...ibrant myths and epic legends told in countries around the world.
Read more