"This book is about a bird's life cycle," said 8-year-old Paige Conley after reading Toroa's Journey.
"It has good describing words and interesting facts. I like the pictures, they look like paintings," Paige said.
Toroa's name means "albatross" in Maori and he is not a fictional bird but was in fact the 500th chick hatched at the Taiaroa Head colony near Dunedin.
The book's author Maria Gill, and illustrator Gavin Mouldey will be at Paige's Book Gallery in Whanganui this Sunday.
"This will be the first time Maria and I will meet in person," said Mouldey from his home in Raumati.
"We first met online as part of a writer/illustrator project called The Sketchbook.
"When Maria was ready to write the book, she asked me to illustrate it."