By Esme (age 7)
I read a book called ‘What Happened To The Moa?’ by Ned Barraud. The book is about the moa that used to live in NZ and how they died.
It is a non fiction book with lots of real facts. There is a tree called a horoeka | lancewood and it evolved to have spiky leaves when it’s young so the moa couldn’t eat it. Then it grows soft leaves when it’s high enough to be safe. I have seen horoeka in the Waitakere Ranges and the young, spiky leaves look yucky to eat!
The moa’s egg is the size of a rugby ball. Also, the moa’s predators were Haast’s eagle, Eyles’ harrier and humans. My favourite bit was about a seven year old girl (like me), Alice, and she found a big bird on the beach that she patted in 1880. It might have been a moa! But, it might also have been a takahē…
I would recommend this book because it’s very interesting.
