The Best Books About New Zealand: Our Top Picks

Finding good books about New Zealand can be trickier than you’d expect. When we moved to New Zealand in 2014, we could only find a handful online that were genuinely useful. We wanted to understand Māori history and culture, get our heads around the endlessly debated Treaty of Waitangi, and read the stories of other people who’d made the same leap we were making.

Some of these we read before our move, others we’ve discovered since. In no particular order, here are our favourite books about New Zealand, split into a few useful groups.

In this article we cover:

• Books for adults planning a move or a long trip
• Books for kids making the move with you
• Books on Māori history and culture
• Your questions answered

Books for adults thinking about the move

An Olive Grove at the Edge of the World

This is the story of two American city boys who moved to rural New Zealand and ended up running an olive farm, with absolutely no idea what they’d signed up for. Written by Jared Gulian, it covers the first four years of their life in NZ. Even though they’re American and we’re British, it read like our own diary entries from years earlier. It’s a must for anyone thinking of trading city life for somewhere thousands of miles from everything familiar.

Woman in the Wilderness

Miriam Lancewood has become something of a well-known figure in New Zealand. She met her Kiwi husband while travelling in India, and together they later sold everything they owned to live in the New Zealand bush, camping under the stars, hunting with a bow and foraging for food. Her book covers seven years of that life. It’s probably the most honest, insightful account of what the New Zealand backcountry is really like, and it might just leave you wanting to build a bow and disappear into a tent for a while.

Lonely Planet New Zealand

One of the first books we bought about New Zealand, back in 2009 when we first came out as tourists for six months, and it quickly became our bible. Lonely Planet has a genuine skill for giving you just enough on every region to feel properly prepared without overwhelming you. It’s still regularly updated (the current edition covers 2025 to 2026), and it’s still our go-to recommendation for a short trip or a full year away. If you’re building out a route, pair it with our own New Zealand travel itineraries for more specific day-by-day planning.

Books for the kids

New Zealand: Travel for Kids

If a move to New Zealand is on the horizon for your family, it helps if the children get excited about it too, rather than just anxious. This book is a fun, visual way for kids to discover New Zealand’s history, geography, flags, wildlife and culture. Don’t be surprised if they’re teaching you a thing or two by the time you land.

We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa

Another one for older kids, or the more visually minded adults in the family. This is a beautifully designed atlas that focuses on New Zealand’s geography: the land, the waters, the environment, all told through charts, graphs, diagrams and maps rather than paragraphs of text. Genuinely one of the more original books on this list.

Books on Māori history and culture

Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All

We only discovered this one relatively recently. Christina Thompson is an American writer who fell in love with a Māori man, and the book jumps between New Zealand’s early contact history and her own love story in a way that works surprisingly well. It’s a good one if you want to understand the cultural differences between Māori and Pākehā (a term for a New Zealander of European descent), and reading it, we recognised plenty of moments we’d witnessed ourselves within our own extended Kiwi family.

Hongi Hika: Warrior Chief

If Come On Shore sparks an interest in Māori history and the musket wars era, this is the natural next read. Hongi Hika was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi, based in the Bay of Islands. In 1820 he sailed to England and met King George IV, who gifted him a coat of chain mail and a helmet, which he later wore into battle back in New Zealand. He’s one of Isaac’s ancestors, with the family holding a direct line back to his iwi, which is exactly why this book sits pride of place in our lounge.

The Great Divide

New Zealand’s colonial history, and the Treaty of Waitangi in particular, is genuinely contested territory, and which version of events you read shapes how you see it. This book takes a strong, clearly argued position on the Treaty debate, built on the author’s own research. It’s worth reading, but we’d suggest pairing it with other accounts of the Treaty, since this is a topic where hearing more than one perspective matters.

Aroha: Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life

This one helps make sense of attitudes and behaviours that run deep in New Zealand culture. We’ve said in other posts that New Zealanders are some of the most genuine, kind and trusted people we’ve come across, and this book explains a lot of why. It’s thoughtful, gentle, and leaves you wanting to be a slightly better version of yourself.

Our own guide, while we’re here

No list of New Zealand books would be complete without a mention of the guide we built ourselves. We created it because, when we were planning our own move, there was a real gap in decent, practical information about the actual logistics of relocating. Our guide to moving to New Zealand has since helped hundreds of readers work through their own move, step by step, and it’s a good companion to whichever of the books above you pick up first. If budget is on your mind too, our guide to travelling New Zealand on a budget is worth a look alongside it.

Read any of these already? Or think we’ve missed a good one? Let us know via our contact page, we’re always happy to add a good recommendation.

Your questions answered

What’s the best book to read before moving to New Zealand? For the practical and emotional side of the move, “An Olive Grove at the Edge of the World” is the most relatable first-hand account on this list. For logistics, pair it with our own guide to moving to New Zealand.

Are there good beginner-friendly books about the Treaty of Waitangi? “Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All” is the most accessible starting point, since it blends personal story with history rather than reading like a textbook. “The Great Divide” tackles the Treaty debate more directly, but it argues a particular position, so we’d recommend reading it alongside another account rather than as your only source.

What’s a good New Zealand book for kids? “New Zealand: Travel for Kids” is aimed at younger children and covers the basics in a fun, visual way. “We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa” suits older kids or teenagers who enjoy maps, charts and data.

Is the Lonely Planet New Zealand guide still worth buying when everything’s online? Yes, in our view. It condenses an overwhelming amount of online information into something you can actually plan a trip from, and it’s still regularly revised, with the current edition covering 2025 to 2026.

Where can I buy these New Zealand books? Most are available as paperback, ebook and audiobook through major retailers and libraries worldwide. We’ve linked directly to each title, but always check current price and availability before buying, since these do change.

Is Miriam Lancewood’s “Woman in the Wilderness” a true story? Yes. It’s a memoir, not fiction, covering the seven years she and her husband spent living without modern conveniences in the New Zealand bush. She has since written follow-up books about how their lifestyle changed over time.