Amazing story for kids and adults!

PETER LITTLE WING is a chapter book for middle grade readers. It is the story of Peter, a kiwi, and his band of misfit friends who set out on an adventure to locate the ingredients needed to cure Peter’s grandfather, Nandy Enzo, who is very ill. The journey takes them through many ups and downs, all the while solidifying their bonds of friendship in the multitude of stories that twist and turn throughout their adventure.

Peter recruits his closest friends from the National Aquarium where they live in captivity—Onion, a little blue penguin with an inner ear disturbance; Tim, a tuatara with Generalized Anxiety Disorder; and Rangi, a kea with clipped wings. Along the way, they meet Pō, a Green and Golden Bell frog; and Andrew, a possum daring death on a bridge. Together, the band of six friends work to listen for “The Deep Understanding” to solve the riddles of the needed ingredients and attempt to find them. But will they? And, if so, will they be able to make it back to the aquarium in time to save Nandy Enzo?

Sprinkled throughout the entire book are tidbits of information for kids (and adults) to learn about the unique animals of New Zealand as well as the interesting language and slang of this island country. Macaulay uses fun language (definitions can be found in a glossary at the end of the book) and beautiful imagery (“mosses, mulch, and shrub clusters formed a patchwork forest quilt”) throughout which really paint a picture of the characters and setting.

While this story is animal based, the stories of these friends very similarly mimic that of humans in many ways making it very relatable for kids…from the relationships amongst family, to living with and accepting other’s ailments, our desire to belong, and the passing down of family stories from generation to generation, interwoven over time.

The fact that this is Ms. Macaulay’s first MG chapter book is remarkable. She weaves a terrific story using wonderful language to create vivid images and set the scenes very well, ultimately creating a book that is difficult to put down. I highly recommend it and believe readers will also love it.

Gordon Bagshaw’s illustrations help bring the story and friends to life, adding an important part of the world in which these friends are weaving their stories.

The story of this group of misfit friends on a mission to help a friend and encounter the adventure of a lifetime through the “middle of nowhere” is excellent. Macaulay uses these relatable animals to teach subtle lessons about how to treat others in such a way that readers will find themselves rooting for the characters without realizing they are also learning valuable life lessons. There are so many surprising twists and turns on the adventure beyond the “Walls of Shadows,” all the while demonstrating the bonds of friendship and ultimate importance of treating others the way one wants to be treated. Well done!

-- Karin Larson, children's book author