KATE CAMP

Author of ‘Looking for Saner Climates’

I work at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand. My job is to make sure that stories about Te Papa are in the news and on social media so that people know what is happening there. We love giving people a peek behind the scenes at all the cool, random stuff the museum has in its collections.

My photo is a selfie of me with some marine mammal bones that are being packed up and put into storage.

As well as stuff from history, Te Papa collects things from modern life. Recently we bought a Lego set of the Millennium Falcon. We will keep it in the museum collection so that hundreds of years from now, people can see what kids were into in 2016.  

On Wednesday mornings, instead of going to work at Te Papa, I stay home and write a poem. I’ve published five books of poems and have another one coming out soon. I have always liked poetry. When I was growing up, I wrote poems for my family on birthdays and did my own funny versions of songs and ads.

Two of my favourite people are my nephew and niece, George James Patrick and Elizabeth Pearl Patrick. Have a look for their initials in my word find! They are both really into reading so I know they are going to love this book. 

I have always enjoyed books that are suspenseful and even a bit scary. The Silver Crown by Robert C. O’Brien is one of my favourites – I’ve probably read that book fifty times. I also love books about girls who have to deal with really terrible events like When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr, The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig, and The Diary of Anne Frank.  

A book of poems I find hilarious is You Tell Me by Roger McGough and Michael Rosen. My whole family used to crack ourselves up reading out loud from that book.

Some books my niece and nephew are into at the moment are the Ruby Redfort mysteries by Lauren Child and the Genius Files series by Dan Gutman.