To celebrate my new poetry collection, Fairfax invited me to share some book titles for their regional papers. It is very fitting the weekend I am at the glorious IBBY Congress in Auckland, my first pick is by Margaret Mahy.

The Lion in the Meadow, Margaret Mahy

No matter what I write, Margaret Mahy’s fiendishly elastic, daringly inventive way with words is like my phantom grandmother. Take a lion, a matchbox, a boy and a mum and you get a classic story to which New Zealander writers are all in debt. The ending is genius and still gives me goosebumps.

for the other three  … see here