New Zealand’s Endangered Dolphins by Maria Gill. Illus. Marco Ivancic. Pub. White Cloud Books, 2024

Whenever I review a non fiction book I compare the information and arrangement of information with online sources to see which is better in terms of subject matter and age appropriateness. In this picture book about two endangered New Zealand dolphins – popota (Maui) and pahu (Hector’s) this book wins hands down.

These are two of the smallest dolphins in the world at between 1.2 and 1.6 metres long. Their brains are 15-60 times bigger than a shark so they are smart and they sense things with an echolocation system which tells them how far away objects are and even if another dolphin is pregnant, has just eaten or is frightened.

Both dolphins like to swim in pods with the Poto being located off the west coast of the North Island and Pahu mainly off the east coast of the South island but you can read the rest of the information about them when you get this excellent picture book for primary intermediate and even high school readers.

It also tells of marine sanctuaries and what we can do to help save them as well as the dolphin’s structure in comparison to other larger dolphins.

Marco Ivancic’s diagrams, photographs, maps and illustrations enhance the excellent information and easy text of Maria Gill. An award winning non fiction book if I ever saw one.