Finding a new bum and finding Easter eggs in hilarious new picture book

 

Easter Bunny Needs a New Bum!
Dawn McMillan
Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

Easter egg-citement awaits in seasonal addition to the hit New Bum! series

 

As children are gearing up for Easter egg hunts and trying to spot the Easter Bunny, here comes the book to spark their egg-citement!

And when Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird are in cahoots, you know there’ll be plenty of laughter (and probably some bums too)! 

Easter Bunny needs a New Bum! is the newest addition to the hilarious hit series that cracks up readers around the world. 

Early one morning, Red Pants Boy spots Easter Bunny in his garden – but something’s amiss: Easter Bunny is missing his tail! 

Well-versed in bum-related emergencies, our hero comes to Easter Bunny’s rescue with an egg-celent idea. 

He equips him with fashionable Easter undies and off they hop to hide the eggs: ‘Hoppity hoppity, cannot stoppity.’

But will they be able to sort out Easter Bunny’s bum issues or will he forever be wearing undies?

Number ten in the bestselling New Bum! series publishes on 13 March in New Zealand and Australia, and is already available in the UK and Ireland through Scholastic.

The author

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of many children’s books, including  I Need a New Bum!, My Bum is SO SPOOKY!, There’s a Crab in my Castle and Colour the Stars. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 

The illustrator

Ross Kinnaird is an illustrator and graphic designer whose books have been published in many countries, many of them in collaboration with Dawn. He lives close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore.

Publication: 13 March 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004278-2 | RRP $21.00

Paperback, 230 x 215 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

Eighth of the New Bum! books continues 'runaway success' of the international series

My Dad’s Runaway Bum!
Dawn McMillan
Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

From the humble beginnings of a boy wondering why his bum has a crack, the 2012 book I Need a New Bum! has built a fan base of millions around the world, with six subsequent adventures published along with a number of bind-ups, sticker books and even a board game. 

My Dad’s Runaway Bum extends this hit series in another crazy escapade. Our hero. red-pants boy, is off on another bum-venture, but this time it’s not him that causes the trouble!

 

After eating too much cabbage and peas, Dad’s bum has had enough and blasts off in a cloud of smelly smoke. It takes off through the door, rolls ‘past joggers in tights, past bikers with lights’.

 

But our hero and his bum-less Dad are hot on its tail, following its smelly trail. And soon, the police get in on the c(h)ase …

Will Dad get his bum back or will he stay forever bum-less, with his backside locked up in jail?

The hilarious rhymes of Dawn McMillan and comical drawings of Ross Kinnaird crack up readers once more in this wild bum-chase. 

 

This eighth in the bestselling New Bum! series will be in bookstores from 5 March in New Zealand and Australia, with publication also in the US and Canada, the UK and Ireland.

The authors

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of many children’s books, including  I Need a New Bum!, My Bum is SO SPOOKY!, There’s a Moa in the Moonlight and Colour the Stars. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 

Ross Kinnaird is an illustrator and graphic designer whose books have been published in many countries, many of them in collaboration with Dawn. He lives close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore.

Publication: 5 March 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004254-6 | RRP $21.00

Paperback, 230 x 215 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

Celebrating a new book in Māori and Samoan for Auckland Council Libraries

I was delighted to meet up with the Auckland Libraries whānau last week to celebrate the launch of two children's books that help fill a need for resources in languages other than English.

Oratia worked with the Libraries team led by Anne-Marie Shepherd (Publishing Partnerships Lead) to prepare the books for use in libraries across Auckland.

 

Written by Māori librarian Teri Ta'ala, Māmā e hiakai ana mātou! tells the delightful story of three kids who are hungry and can't work out what to eat, until their super mum steps in to dish up a delicious meal. 

Veronica Ligaliga, Senior Librarian Pacific Content Development Specialist, stepped in to translate the work into Gaganā Samoa as Tinā ua mātou fia'a'ai!

Both books are colourfully illustrated by Waiheke Island-based artist No'oroa Te Hira Anguna. 

It was a pleasure to work with Anne-Marie and her team to help get these great resources into the hands of young readers. 

Check in at your local library in Auckland or go online to access the books.

Auckland Libraries staff and guests at the books' launch

Rona Moon lands for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

Modern version of the Rona and the Moon myth appears in vividly illustrated, bilingual picture book

Rona Moon, an imaginative retelling of the Rona and the Moon myth, hits the bookstores of Aotearoa during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori/Māori Language Week 2020. 

Award-winning writer and youth counsellor Tim Tipene recasts the myth in a modern setting. 

Rona is a young girl who gets angry with everyone — her brother, her Nana and Papa — until one night she calls the moon stupid!

 

Taken to meet her ancestor Whaea Rona on the moon, she learns a lesson in how to control her temper:

‘Everything looks so small from up here,’ said Rona. 

‘I know,’ Whaea beamed. ‘Even the reasons we felt angry seem so little.’

 

‘Hanga nohinohi te ao katoa atu i konei,’ tā Rona. 

‘E mea ana koe,’ te mene atu a Whaea. ‘Kua hanga nohinohi hoki ngā take i pupū ai ō tāua riri.’

Stephanie Huriana Fong has translated Tim’s sensitive telling, and Tai Tokerau artist Theresa Reihana makes her first foray into children’s books with striking, luminescent illustrations.

 

Rona Moon is ideal for primary school readers, students of te Reo and anyone who loves a traditional story. 

The authors

Tim Tipene (Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Whātua) is the award-winning author of over 12 children’s books, and a pioneering youth counsellor. He lives with his children in Rānui, West Auckland. Theresa Reihana (Ngāti Hine) is a visual artist who has exhibited worldwide, and is now venturing into book illustration; she lives near Kaitaia. Stephanie Huriana Fong (Te Rarawa) is a registered translator of te Reo who also works in television and other media; she lives in Te Atatū, Auckland.

 

Publication: 16 September 2020  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-73-5  | RRP $25.99 Hardback, 270 x 210 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

I Broke My Butt! cracks up North America

I Broke My Butt!, the US edition of Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird's new book, is out now from Dover Publications. 

Click here for the page on the Dover website.

The hilarious new book is the much-anticipated sequel to the international hit I Need a New Bum!, which our friends at Dover published in 2014 as I Need a New Butt!

They also have two other of Dawn and Ross' picture books available for sale in the USA and Canada — Doctor Grundy's Undies and Seagull Sid. 

New sequel backs up the cracking success of I Need a New Bum!

I’ve Broken my Bum!

Dawn McMillan; Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

Zany sequel to international bestseller out in NZ in October ahead of North American release 

When Scottish Granny’s reading of I Need a New Bum! became a social media smash last September, the New Zealand bestseller turned into an international hit as well — with the US version selling out and Scholastic UK rushing an edition out before Christmas. 

A good thing, then, that Thames author Dawn McMillan had a sequel already on the go. 

After North Shore illustrator Ross Kinnaird added his quirky touch, the new book about a new bum is ready to rock bookstores worldwide — with NZ publication on Wednesday 9 October. 

 

I’ve Broken my Bum!  follows the popular character from the first book as he deals with a bum that breaks into pieces when he comes off his bike, then gets stuck to the tray he’s using to make the repairs. 

Kids will love his exploits as he discovers the fun to be had with a tray stuck to your bum. 

Dover Publications will publish the book as I Broke my Butt! in the US and Canada,next week, with Scholastic readying its UK edition for January 2020. 

Meanwhile, new editions of I Need a New Bum! are on the way in Korean and Italian.

 

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of numerous children’s books including I Need a New Bum! , Doctor Grundy’s Undies and Home Child, also released in 2019. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. Ross Kinnaird is an international illustrator and designer whose books have been published in many countries, many of them in collaboration with Dawn. He lives close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore.

Publication: 9 October 2019  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-64-3 |  RRP $19.99

Paperback, 235 x 215 mm, 32 pages colour

Bringing Dad home after the war ends

When the First World War ended, not all kids got their fathers back, and among those that did come home were many scarred by mental wounds. 

After the bands stop playing and the street festivities subside, young Rita and Thomas wait to see their Dad again. But the man who eventually comes home doesn’t speak and is frightened by loud noises. 

Struggling to understand, the kids support him as he readjusts to home life, all the while singing his favourite song. 

One day, while they help him fix the deck, Dad starts to join in the song …

When Dad Came Home movingly captures a children’s view of war and the realities of shell shock (what we now know as PTSD). 

Published on Thursday 8 November, in time to mark the centenary of the War’s end on 11 November 1918, this striking debut work is reminder of how the effects went on after the dads came home.

Author Vanessa Hatley-Owen will be on hand to launch the book at Howick Library this Saturday 10 November (see below) — all welcome. 

Vanessa Hatley-Owen (above, left) is a writer who has published with Learning Media and been a New Zealand Society of Authors mentee. A mother of three and teacher support, she lives in Howick, Auckland. 

Rosie Colligan (right) has illustrated for book and commercial clients in New Zealand and internationally, and formerly worked at Weta Digital. She lives in Wellington.

Publication: 8 November 2018  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-50-6  |  RRP $19.99                    Paperback, 230 x 135 mm, 32 pages colour

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