Critters of Aotearoa 50 Bizarre But Lovable Members of our Wildlife Community

Slimy, stinky, creepy, crawly and gross . . . but also a little bit cute! Discover New Zealand’ s most curious creatures — from Smeagol the gravel maggot, to the walking worm and the drooping blobfish — with Nicola Toki from the hit RNZ segement on Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan ‘ Critter of the Week’ as your guide. Featuring 50 illustrated profiles of Aotearoa’ s weird and wonderful critters, and an introduction by Jesse Mulligan, this book proves that sometimes nature’ s best stories are the ones you have to work a little harder to uncover.

Lily Duval is an artist, writer and researcher based in beautiful Ohinehou/Lyttelton. She’ s an insect nerd, book lover and obsessive tramper. Lily’ s always been addicted to drawing — in kindergarten the teachers had to pull her away from the paints so the other children could have a turn! A love of stories led her to complete a Masters in English Literature, which examined our attitudes to insects here in Aotearoa. She’ s always raving about why we need to love bugs and not squish them. Critters of Aotearoa is her first picture book. Nicola Toki has been a ‘ nature nerd’ for as long as she can remember. She is deeply passionate about Aotearoa New Zealand’ s endemic wildlife, and especially telling stories about it to anyone who will listen! After studying zoology and natural history filmmaking at the University of Otago (which led her to spend a summer on an island near the Antarctic Peninsula researching Adelie penguins), Nic feels very lucky to have built a career as a champion for nature. She believes that telling people stories of hope drives action to protect the species we love