Joan Joass | Oratia Media

Title: Captain Cat Author: Joan Joass Illustrator: Bob Darroch ISBN: 978-0-947506-86-5 RRP: $21.00 Specs: 230 x 215 mm portrait, PB, 32 pp, colour Published: 3 June 2021 For Teacher Resource: Click here For orders from outside New Zealand, email: sales@oratia.co.nz

An adventurous tale of two mischievous cats that find themselves in a predicament — their love for fish leads to an unscheduled journey in their owners’ dinghy. Will anyone notice them floating into the estuary?

The owner of the boat might not be on to it, but the neighbourhood kids are! Spying Fluff and Scout floating about, one of them posts on the Internet: ‘Do you know whose cats are these?Get in touch and HURRY please!’

Thank goodness Mum uses social media. Scout and Fluff are saved when the Joneses jump in their kayaks and set off to save their moggies.

Bob Darroch’s vibrant and jam-packed illustrations hilariously depict Fluff and Scout’s adventures at sea, and the efforts of the Jones family and friends to bring them back to shore.

Title: The Longdrop Author: Joan Joass Illustrator: Bob Darroch ISBN: 978-0-947506-71-1 RRP: $21.00 Specs: 230 x 215 mm portrait, PB, 32 pp, colour Published: 16 June 2020 For Teacher Resource: Click here For orders from outside New Zealand, email: sales@oratia.co.nz

Here’s a fantastic tale for kids about the classic Kiwi holiday that includes a caravan, a beach and the sometimes-smelly toilet shed out the back of the holiday section — the longdrop.

The kids need to go, and the public loo is sooo far away from their caravan. So, Dad builds a longdrop! When the paper builds to capacity Dad thinks and thinks and solves his problem — with a match ...

Based on a true story (Joan’s husband is ‘Dad’), this fun rhyming story celebrates the hilarious situations that arise from the Kiwi ‘she’ll be right’ approach to life. Bob Darroch’s jam-packed illustrations perfectly depict New Zealand holiday time.