Little House in the Cow Paddock: Growing Up in New Zealand

Trail blazing is in the DNA of author and illustrator Wendy Hamilton. She was raised in New Zealand, a young country at the bottom of the world. As a child, Wendy met her pioneering great grandfather, who in his youth sailed to New Zealand from the Shetland Isles. One of eight sons, he and his family carved a homestead out of the virgin bush in the remote and rugged area of Karamea. Wendy’s upbringing was strongly influenced by these hardworking, devout, forebears. And simple-living, making-do, and building, are recurrent themes in her writing. Her children’s books ‘Little House in the Bush’ and ‘Little House in the Cow Paddock’ are based on her childhood in the rural North of the North Island. As an adult, Wendy continued her trail blazing heritage by striking out into the less traveled territories of home-schooling and house churches. She and her husband Ian, have been involved in house churches in New Zealand, Connecticut, and Colorado. And successfully home educated their four children from preschool through to collage. She shares insights on these subjects in her humorous books ‘Homemade Church,’ and ‘Eating a Light Bulb does not make you Bright.’ In addition, Wendy writes on motherhood, house renovations, children’s adventure stories, and picture books. Wendy and Ian currently reside in Australia.