George, JamesFurze, Katie2019-03-202019-03-2020192019https://hdl.handle.net/10292/12367The novel (for children aged 8-12 years (middle grade)), is set in contemporary Aotearoa, weaves threads of Māori and Greek mythology, with current ecological and social concerns and explores the universal themes of family relationships, friendship, and the cycle of life and death. The exegesis investigates trees in mythology, religion, and in the physical world, and examines the critical ground on which the novel and similar contemporary children’s fiction sits.enNovelChildren's literatureTreesMythologyThesisOpenAccess2019-03-19