Marnie Anstis
Marnie lives in the eastern Bay of Plenty, near an ancient puriri tree upon which she based her historical story, Taketakerau The Millennium Tree.
(Finalist in NZ Post Children's Book Awards 2013, Storylines Notable Books List 2013, Listener's 50 Best Children's Books 2012, Commended in the Ashton Wylie Children’s Book Award 2012.)
She has enjoyed writing all her life, and many short stories have been published in various magazines.
Marnie’s artistic flair, as evidenced in this creative picture book, has been honed in voluntary community activities – floral displays; stage design; posters and logos; exhibition layouts… and landscaping their extensive garden.
She and her husband have farmed in the area for almost 50 years (dairying and horticulture), while raising their four sons. Now semi-retired from managing the day-to-day organisation of staff, Marnie continues to write while keeping the home fires burning…
In 2021, she collaborated with her son Mark Anstis ( https://www.markanstis.com/ ) who illustrated her latest book, Gingercat.
In 2024, she published a memoir of her teenage/young adult years spent in the wilds of the Pakihi Valley, deep in the hills to the south of Opotiki.
Genre:
- Autobiography / Memoir
- Children's Fiction
- Children's Non-Fiction
Skills:
- Readings
Branch:
Hamilton
Location:
Opotiki
Publications:
Taketakerau: The Millennium Tree
A tale woven from the life and times of the (still-living) ancient puriri tree Taketakerau, the settlement and development of New Zealand, and world events over the last 2000 years. Lavishly illustrated by Patricia Howitt, this book is enjoyed by 5 to 95 year-olds!
Publication #2
Gingercat
In a twist on a classic fairy tale, Gingercat finds a home deep in a loney city. Featuring love and empathy, this children's picture book will melt hearts.
With simple, clear illustrations, this is the story of a little stray cat who finds a home deep in a lonely city. She smells food through an open doorway, laps from one of three bowls, cleans herself on one of three chairs, then settles on one of three beds. When Daddy, Mummy, and their little boy find her fast asleep, they are faced with a decision - what name shall their new cat be given? A gentle, happy story based on a classic fairy tale, Gingercat is suitable for a younger audience, little readers, and as a loving bedtime story.
Illustrations by Mark Anstis https://www.markanstis.com/
A Bird in the Bush
Set between the years 1966 and 1975, Marnie's memoir of rural life in the isolated Pakihi Valley (Eastern Bay of Plenty, New Zealand), cronicles the transformation of a socially awkward teen into a resilient, self-confident young woman. Expanded diary extracts include mustering sheep and cattle over huge swathes of steep countryside, shearing and fleeco-ing, drenching, skinning possums, boyfriends, chasing wild pigs, riding horses, and catching poachers. Having thrived in the wildness, the bush, the solitude - and surviving floods, fires, and financial hardship - she found the courage to leave her beloved valley for greener pastures.