Ruru, Night Hunter by Katie Furze, Illus. Ned Barraud. Pub. Scholastic July 2024.

This brilliant picture book linking the night time hunt of a father Ruru feeding his chicks with the dream of a young girl sleeping in a house within the Ruru’s territory, is award winning stuff.

The Ruru, also known as morepork because of a cry it makes, is New Zealand’s only surviving native owl. It can swivel it’s head almost all the way round, is very territorial, has eyes that are hypnotic to look at and serrated edges on its feathers to muffle the sound of air passing over it’s wings. Fantastic.

Katie Furze tells a story of a male ruru at night in a city environment doing what owls do while a child “peers out the window into the darkness“. It is going to be an exciting night as Ruru encounters a possum, a cat and hunts for food like mice, wetas and juicy moths. Read it and see what happens.

The illustrations in a word are stunning. The cover says it all with those hypnotic eyes and the first double page has Ruru looking out over his domain as a crescent moon rises and the town settles down for the night. Ruru’s night has just begun. The chicks and female ruru in their nest will bring a smile to your face, as will all the illustrations. My favourite is Ruru fighting off the possum. Ned Barraud must be one of New Zealand’s best illustrators of picture books and other titles of his are also on this blog. Check them out.