Fantasy, adventure and realism combine in a junior fiction novel by an award-winning writer. When David’s uncle comes to visit he sets off a bizarre series of events. Things become complicated when the pet rats turn bright red. David senses that somehow the red rats are connected to the story he is reading, and he becomes more convinced when the colour red becomes contagious. The parallel story sees Felix and his friend Bella inadvertently shifted into a strange land where they must solve a riddle. But this puts them into great danger. How will they escape and find their way home? Young readers will want to solve the confusing conundrum of the red rats; they’ll delight in the word riddles and be absorbed by David’s story as well as by the fantastical adventures of Felix and Bella, skilfully told by the NZ Post Award-winning writer James Norcliffe.
How do you escape being the loblolly boy? Find the boy who stole your life and Exchange. An exciting fantasy novel for junior readers The NZ Post Junior Fiction winner returns with outstanding sequel! Following on from the highly acclaimed The Loblolly Boy, this magical and astonishing story, full of lurches and unexpected twists, will keep readers captivated from beginning to end. How do you escape from being the loblolly boy? The answer is simple: find the boy who stole your life and Exchange. But when the loblolly boy seeks help from the mysterious Captain Bass, he discovers it’s not going to be simple. Standing in his way will be the Jugglers, the unpredictable Gadget Man and the sinister Sorcerer. Lost in a strange town with only one friend — the feisty Mel — the loblolly boy has to deal with the biggest obstacle of all: Benjy, the treacherous boy who stole his life.
An exciting fantasy novel for 8 to 12 year olds involving enchantment, mystery and a garden gnome. To the boy called Red, it seems the most marvellous escape he could wish for: a gift that grants him more freedom than he ever believed possible - the chance to fly, to soar with the gulls, high over the tall brick walls that have imprisoned him for so long. But this gift comes with a terrible price - and puts him in grave danger. Is there anyone Red can trust to help him? The curious Captain Bass who has strange powers of his own? The wildly unpredictable twin sisters he is strongly drawn to? In this magical, mysterious story, Red's adventure is like a chamber of mirrors at a carnival - a dazzling and breathtaking tale. 'This is a rich fantasy - alive with original twists, surprises and mysteries which I dare not reveal. Children's Literature is about to be enriched with a new classic.' Margaret Mahy
A disappearance. An infatuation. The Frog Prince is an intriguing, multi-layered novel giving us a story, within a story, within a story. Remember the kiss between the frog prince and the princess? What about the part where the princess angrily flings the frog against the wall? What was that about? At an international school in France, the young teacher Cara writes her own version of the classic tale by the Brothers Grimm. Their fairy tale is nothing like Cara’s relationship with David, but when Cara disappears, can the story help David unravel what has happened? As for the various princesses and frogs in this intriguing multi-layered novel, will any live happily ever after? This is a stunning debut adult novel by James Norcliffe, who is renowned for his award-winning children’s books and for his poems, which David Eggleton says ‘invariably get us to attend more closely to the spirit of existence, to moments of being’.
An enchanting story of a story, Twice Upon a Time is a charming junior fiction novel by award-winning writer James Norcliffe. What happens when you find yourself trapped inside a story? What happens if the only way out is to solve the riddles of the Very Bad Very Good Storyteller, Mr Aesop Sod? And where, oh where, is Pop? Ginny and her strange new friend, Digger Dagger, must navigate their way through this upside down, topsy turvy world where Don's Dairy has become Nod's Diary, the fish and chip shop is full of tropical fish tanks and wood chips, and the ghost train at the fun fair really is a ghost train. How will the story end? Will Ginny and Digger Dagger find the answers they need? Sometimes the answers are right there in front of you. Award-winning author James Norcliffe has written a delightful story full of wordplay, old-world charm and imagination, reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.
Believable fantasy novel by an award-winning author for 8 to 12-year-olds - grounded in the here and now and charged with a dangerous, menacing edge. A flute that will only play one mysterious song? A strange old man in a wheel chair somehow rejuvenated by this music? A leap from a window into a strange and often frightening world where nobody can be trusted and from which there seems to be no escape? NZ Post Children's Book Award-winning author James Norcliffe's The Enchanted Flute sweeps Becky Pym and Johnny Cadman from the realities of modern day school and the suburbs into an ancient Arcadian world where an old battle is about to be reignited. The flute Becky's mother bought at a pawn shop proves to be a catalyst, a prize all forces seek. Lost, pursued, Becky and Johnny are swept along by events out of their control until the final confrontation between ancient enemies.
A summer holiday arranged by their uncle for Kate and David, their mother and two of their friends, in an old house on an isolated bay on Banks Peninsular turns into a surprising and scary adventure. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.
Three sequences of verse come together in this poetry collection that ranges in tone from meditative to satirical. The title sequence imagines the 14th-century French poet Fran�ois Villon stranded in the isolated and semideserted coal-mining town of Millerton; another vividly evokes the mysteries of the Indian rope trick; and the final one turns its focus on Samuel Marsden, the 19th-century missionary whose character is intriguingly contradictory.
A novel for younger teenage readers, set in Christchurch. A tricky door-to-door salesman sells an encyclopedia which turns out to have strange properties. It will only show certain of its pages, and these have wonderfully vivid pictures. The encyclopedia is hypnotic, but is part of a scheme that threatens the world we know. It lures the narrator and his cousins into experiences that are very frightening. This is James Norcliffe's third novel for young adults.
James Norcliffe is one of New Zealand's most widely published and anthologised poets. In Dark Days at the Oxygen Cafe, he looks over the shoulders of many characters and creatures, both real and imagined, and takes us deep into uncanny valleys. Poems about Seneca and James Dean sit alongside poems about a Turken dictator and an owl man. We share in a portentous UFO sighting, a small celebration for Laika the space dog, and Peter the Great being offered an Air New Zealand lolly. These scenes from myth, history, pop culture and personal experience make for a wryly funny, deeply felt collection that contemplates the quirks of shared and personal histories. 'His poems invariably get us to attend more closely to the spirit of existence, to moments of being.' -David Eggleton 'A poetry that risks delight.' -Michael Harlow
A strange and mischievous story written with exceptional style, pace and grace — a true classic in the making. It’s 1740 . . . The Firefly is taken in the night by pirates who sail the Caribbean. The ship’s boy and a handful of men are set adrift in a jolly-boat. Without food or water the half-starved men eye up the young boy. Astonishingly, a mysterious Mr Wicker saves the boy by turning him into an unearthly creature — an invisible flying boy with beautiful emerald-green wings. When the boy is drawn to a ghost ship sailed by Captain Bass, he learns of the dangerous power of a magical astrolabe which Mr Wicker desperately seeks — and why Wicker must never find it. The boy cannot trust Wicker . . . but is there anyone he can trust? Captain Bass? Sophie Blade, the pirate’s daughter? And who can return him to himself? 2016 Storylines Notable Junior Fiction Award
A collection of poems selected to encourage young people to write their own. Includes writing prompts, an interview with the author and a guide to the main poetic techniques used. Suggested level: primary, intermediate, secondary.
When Mallory and her sidekick Arthur kidnap the tooth fairy, they get more than they bargained for in this sparkling fantasy adventure novel for children. Mallory is a nasty piece of work. Her one friend is Arthur, who only puts up with her because he has no one else. When Mallory loses a tooth, she comes up with an evil idea to capture and blackmail the tooth fairy for an endless supply of money. But it’s never a good idea to meddle with a magical creature, and Mallory and Arthur are about to find out just how bad it can get. With James Norcliffe's signature magic and humour, and Emily Walker's equally magical illustrations, The Revenge of the Tooth Fairy will delight fans of the Harry Potter series, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz and top-quality fantasy adventures.
This generous and exciting collection brings together poems of Christchurch and the hills and plains beyond.Like the patchwork pattern of fields so characteristic of the Canterbury Plains, the book is a mosaic of moods, colours and variety.Poems of the past mix with poems of today; old favourites rub shoulders with new voices.Reflective poems, quirky poems, passionate poems, wry poems; poems that will move, amuse, startle and delight.Together they make up a memorable picture of the region and its people.This is a collection you will want to return to again and again.The editors, Bernadette Hall and James Norcliffe (both of whom have lived and worked in Christchurch for many years), are distinguished New Zealand poets.
The Blackwater Creek Silver Band has been reduced to the size of carrots by conjuror, Henry Falco. To restore the band to their original size requires some powerful magic, and the old cornet which belonged to Tom's grandfather is a vital ingredient. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.
Determined to find his long-absent mother, Larry sets off to the mysterious Carousel Caravan Park and encounters more than he bargained for-- giant caretakers with miniature children, drugged food, and the secretive Amy. This is no ordinary caravan park, and Larry and Amy are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. Suggested level: intermediate, junior secondary.
Anchored in a fearsome past of tyrant rulers and black magic, Gleam is a fiefdom gripped in the clutches of its ruler, the Markgrave, who has crushed freedom and hope. An ancient prophecy promises a bright new beginning for Gleam, but to destroy any chance of its being fulfilled, the Markgrave seeks the help of the Brotherhood, a mysterious order of scholars and practitioners of the dark arts. Into this menacing world comes a young woman, Johanna, and her brother, Tobias. Tobias's craving for power makes him an unwitting pawn in the Brotherhood's evil. Johanna, meanwhile, is chosen to be the victim whose sacrifice will preserve the regime of the tyrant Markgrave. But Johanna has two unlikely allies: a gentle musician and a runaway jester. To thwart the forces gathered against them, these three will descend into a darkness deeper than any they have ever known and discover resources of courage and invention they could not have imagined they possessed.
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