Looking at our own back yards

From praying mantis to blackbirds, Pukerua Bay author Gillian Candler says there is plenty for children to discover in New Zealand back yards.

Last month Mrs Candler released her second children’s book, In the Garden.

She worked with Karori- based illustrator Ned Barraud on the project.

The book was written for children to discover the wonders in their own back yards, she said.

‘‘It is the things that parents and kids could be doing in the garden and at the beach,’’ she said.

‘‘Children are really curious and this is an opportunity to encourage that curiosity and at the same time get them outside.

‘‘They’re books I would have loved to have had when my son grew up.’’

In the Garden details creatures found in a typical New Zealand back yard.

That includes the huhu grub, which spend several years eating rotten wood before turning into huhu beetles.

Mrs Candler said she was was thrilled by the response to the book, which had been selling well.

It was listed in the Nielsen top 10 best-selling children’s books and was one of The Listener top 50 children’s books for 2013.

She said the book came about after she talked to parents of young children.

‘‘We were talking about my last book and they said it would be great to have a book about the garden,’’ she said.

Mrs Candler wrote last year.

She said she tried to spend time in her own back yard in Pukerua Bay after working in offices for years.

‘‘I rediscovered nature after being shut away for so long. I wanted to learn more about the natural environment,’’ she said.

The publisher-turned-author said she enjoyed the lifestyle away from the bustling city.

She was tight-lipped about her next book, which she said was along the lines of the first two. Mrs Candler writes a blog called explore discovernature.blogspot.co.nz.

Kapi-Mana News had a copy of In the Garden to give away. To be eligible to win the book, email us at editor@kmananews.co.nz by noon on Friday, November 29, with ‘‘garden’’ in the message line.

At the Beach