Tūī Street Heroes

Description

From award-winning New Zealand author, Anne Kayes, creator of Tūī Street Tales and winner of the Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2016, Tūī Street Heroes is the follow-up book for 8-12 year old readers. It is a stand-alone book and you don’t have to have read the first book, Tūī Street Tales, but do read it if you can!

Tūī Street Heroes received a Storylines Notable Book Award in 2020. The third book in the series, Tūī Street Legends, was released in 2023.

Find the teaching notes for Tūī Street Heroes here.

Reviews

A Goodreads reviewer ~ “In this follow up to Tui Street Tales, these kiwi kids find themselves on an intrepid journey when Ngeru the kitten goes missing up a tree and they follow him up to rescue him… only to find themselves in a land of giants at the top of the tree. With references and links to fairy tales, Maori mythology, and with a good, old-fashioned adventure feel to it, this would appeal to lovers of The Famous 5, The Faraway Tree and maybe even The Land of Stories.”

Dionne Christian, Canvas, NZ Herald ~ “The kids from Tūī Street make a welcome return as more awe-inspiring adventures await readers looking for a little – a lot – of magic.”

Sarah Forster, The Sapling ~ “A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of reading Tūī Street Tales by Anne Kayes, which had won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 2016 – so I was delighted to learn there was a sequel. Tūī Street Heroes carries on the stories of the original characters of the tales, while introducing several new characters, including an Irish student teacher, Ms Brennan, who sets them an assignment to write three heroes journey tales over the term.

“As with the stories in Tūī Street Tales, the adventures that occur are influenced by fairy tales, and we begin with a story up the beanstalk – Jack’s beanstalk. Ella’s kitten Ngeru has gone adventuring, and she can hear her miaowing from a long way away. Each of the children has to pluck up their courage when deciding to follow Ngeru up, up, up into the clouds.

“I enjoyed the realistic relationships that the children have with one another, and their recognition of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and their distinct personalities.

“I highly recommend this collection for kids aged 8 to 12, and think Kayes has written a worthy follow-up to Tūī Street Tales.”

Kiwi author Anne Kayes

Find out more about Kiwi author Anne Kayes on her author profile.