From my window, I have watched the autumn colours explode into the trees. I feel safe in my bubble, getting lost in my artwork and writing. The road is oddly quiet and the pīwakawaka dart confidently around my garden.
— Sienna Trollé, age 10
NELSON | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 18
I hope that after all this, people won't just go back to their daily routines. I hope that the human race will open up their eyes and see what we have been doing to the world and, most of all, I pray that we will change our ways.
— Phoebe Leenhouwers, age 14
TASMAN | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 10, 12, THE JILLION & THE SOUTHEAST ASIA SPECIAL ISSUE
When things are getting hard, our windmill is like a beacon guiding us through.
— Meg Marshall, age 13
WELLINGTON | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 2, 4, 6, THE JILLION & 15
Everything is silent, it feels like I’m in space.
— Carmen Baxter, age 11
AUCKLAND | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 18
Lockdown has been okay for me. It's been a relaxing time to do my hobbies and catch up on school work.
— Katherine McArthur, age 13
DUNEDIN | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 19
This is what I see when I look out the kitchen window. Forest is the grey boy and Jeni is the brown girl donkey. They don't know it's lockdown and smile and hee-haw when they see me — calling out to me to bring apples and to give them a scratch. They are my neighbours' donkeys and I really like having them over our back fence. I am happy the donkeys and all of my friends and family have been well in lockdown.
— Zara Hermens, age 13
WELLINGTON | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 15 & THE LATIN AMERICA SPECIAL ISSUE
I’ve just been in a cloud-painting mood. Metaphorically speaking.
— Vita Lawson, age 13
WELLINGTON | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 19
From my window, I spy a very neighborly native friend. The wood pigeon or kererū in all his colourful glory, perched on a branch. He's there most days, singing his song and chatting away to whoever will listen. It's a clear, crisp sound that is welcoming as the world is so quiet right now.I look out at a very green garden, all of the trees we planted ourselves and the pizza oven my Dad built using 100-year-old bricks from a renovated Devonport villa we found. During this lockdown for Covid-19, I look out my window and it seems they have always been there. Time has evaporated in our bubble.
— Logan Simich-Burr, age 14
AUCKLAND | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 10, 11, 12, THE JILLION, TOITOI 15, THE LATIN AMERICA SPECIAL ISSUE & THE SOUTHEAST ASIA SPECIAL ISSUE
During lockdown, I noticed lots of native birds around, especially a lot of fantails. I like not having to go to school but I do miss my friends.
— Jess Dean, age 12
LOWER HUTT | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 12, THE JILLION & TOITOI 15
When I look out of my jail-like lockdown window on the Otago Peninsula, I can hear tūī squawking to each other, not social distancing at all. I can also see autumn leaves littering the damp grass, dotted with holes from my football boots.
— Sam McGee, age 13
DUNEDIN | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 12, THE JILLION & THE LATIN AMERICA SPECIAL ISSUE
My spinosaurus is fighting and killing the Covid-19 virus!
— Louis Nguyen, age 7
LOWER HUTT | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 15 & THE SOUTHEAST ASIA SPECIAL ISSUE
Outside my window, I see my cheeky cat Riley perched under the passionfruit vines, thinking about whether to come inside for a hug or whether to jump the fence and sneakily spy on the chirping birds above.
— Manea Heeney, age 11
AUCKLAND | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 11, 16, THE JILLION & THE SOUTHEAST ASIA SPECIAL ISSUE
I played a lot of cricket before lockdown and the season was cut short. This is me walking, imagining playing again, represented in my shadow.
— Wilkie Proudfoot, age 13
WELLINGTON | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 9, THE JILLION & TOITOI 16
The places I have depicted here, which I've captured in collages, are in my imaginary country. Creating these during and after lockdown, it gave me a sense I was travelling- a colourful juxtaposition to the reality of life within my house.
— Walt Hamer, age 14
WELLINGTON | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 10 & THE JILLION
I've been missing all my music groups during lockdown, so this painting depicts me looking out a window, playing a duet with someone in a house across the street.
— Monica Koster, age 18
CHRISTCHURCH | PUBLISHED IN TOITOI 1 (COVER), 3 & THE JILLION