Notes

Billy wakes up to find his father all lackadaisical, and a strange woman burning the porridge. She reckons his real mother ran away and he needs to call her 'Mum' now. With Old Smoko, a stately, talking horse whom he teaches to read, Billy looks for his real Mum under the Kaimais, out the back of Wairoa. He learns the secret of Mt Te Aroha, hears the ancient Maori story of Snow White, and sees how Auckland got it's electricity. He goes pig hunting, plays footy, discovers roast pork and apple sauce sandwiches - and falls in love with the blue eyes of Harrietta.