Lauren Keenan - Time Travellers Guide to History

Lauren Keenan in conversation with Tania Miller How can adults help spark children’s interest in Aotearoa New Zealand history? Lauren often gets asked this question and it is a subject close to her heart. Lauren talks to Tania about making history accessible and interesting to young readers and the special nature of writing for the middle reader audience. The conversation is pitched at an adult festival audience, but the middle reader in your life is also welcome, accompanied by an adult. Lauren's middle reader books are Amorangi and Millie’s Trip Through Time and its sequel Rimu: The Tree of Time. They follow two siblings who time travel back through their family tree and witness events in New Zealand history, including the invasion of Parihaka, the Great Depression, World War Two, the Musket Wars, and the eruption of Mount Taranaki. The siblings also experience changes in their town and landscape, the attitudes of people, and the way people live their lives.