Para Pukeko and the Stupid Time Thingy (#1 Para Pūkeko) | Sam (Book) Ruffell

Just how much trouble can come about when a time machine falls into the claws of a scavenging swamp hen? Find out in the first book of this brilliant comic series rampaging all over New Zealand's timeline...A pūkeko and a tuatara cause time-travelling chaos in this hilarious graphic novel for readers six years and older, by comic artist Book Ruffell. A dump-diving swamp hen.A wisecracking tuatara.A big red button.WHAT COULD GO WRONG?Para is a pūkeko with an insatiable appetite for junk food and poor impulse control. One day, while scavenging for treats in a new pile of rubbish at the dump, she discovers* a mysterious machine with a big red button just begging to be pressed. In a flash of blue light, Para is sent back 200 million years, and rescues** Heahea, a trashbag tuatara, moments before an asteroid hits. All Para wants is to get back to the present and her dirty old dump, but it's not so easy with Heahea along for the ride. The hapless duo keep crash-landing into different time periods and causing chaos and carnage wherever they go.Full of hilarity, with a dash of danger and a fun historical angle, this is the perfect book for young readers who like their comics irreverent and served up with lots of laughs.*chokes on**entirely by accidentBook 2 in the Para Pūkeko series coming soon!

Sam (Book) Ruffell has been writing for over a decade and illustrating for much longer, illustrating picture books for clients in New Zealand and North America alongside producing his own comics and graphic novels. He also had a stint working for Invercargill City Library and Archives as a graphic designer (cute vid here- https-//www.stuff.co.nz/national/83604089/invercargill-city-librarys-synchronised-book-shelving-goes-viral-during-rio-olympics). Book's aim is to inspire and entertain Kiwi kids with funny and clever comic books set in and about Aotearoa - the books he always wished for when he was growing up. He lives in Ōtepoti/Dunedin.