Up the Creek

"Up the Creek" is an engaging early chapter book from the Kiwi Bites series, designed to build reading skills and confidence for children aged 7-11. It follows Georgina and Matt, two friends who enjoy adventurous outdoor activities like eeling in a local creek. The story takes a serious turn when Matt suffers an accident, falling and injuring his face. The book explores themes of friendship, resilience, problem-solving, and caring for others in a moment of crisis. Parents should be aware of the accident scene, which is depicted realistically but not graphically, offering an opportunity to discuss safety and helping friends.

The Kiwi Bites series has been developed from the hugely successful Aussie Bites series. They are pitched at young readers (7-12) with the aim of building reading skills and confidence with simple words and plots. They have strong plot-based stories, with themes of humour, confidence, sport, adventure, caring, journeys and problem-solving. Georgina and Matt got on real well. He liked doing the same things as her. Sometimes he would come to her place for the day and they would make dams in the creek or go eeling. But eeling could be dangerous – the water was thick with eels that slithered over Georgina's feet. Suddenly a loose rock rolled under Matt s feet, he lost his balance and fell, his face smashing into a large jutting rock...