Award-winning author Philippa Werry brilliantly tells the New Zealand story from the viewpoint of the animals, birds and insects that live here or once did. How and when did they get here? How did they survive and thrive (or not)? In what ways did they adapt to or change the environment? And what is their future in the time of climate change and growing strains on nature? Philippa takes the story back to Gondwanaland, looking at evolution over the eons until humans reached Aotearoa. Change has accelerated since then, and the book covers everything from introduced pest, livestock and domestic pets to conservation, zoos and animal celebrities like Opo the Dolphin. This colourful ninth book in The NZ Series follows The Treaty of Waitangi, winner of the 2025 Margaret Mahy Supreme Book of the Year at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.