This is one of New Zealand's best and well known classic children's stories, so a simple search on Google will bring up a variety of reviews and articles. I will add my two cents, but it is already well-established that this is definitely a wonderful living book about New Zealand's history and geography.
Mrs. Small and her six children flee from her abusive husband in Australia to New Zealand. There they settle in the tiny pioneer town of Lyttleton, near Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island. They are given a tiny garden and house to take care of and they begin to carve out a new life together. But always in the back of their minds, they are afraid that someone will find out who they really are and their father will find them.
This is an excellent book and definitely a LIVING BOOK! Set around 1860, but written by Elsie Locke in 1965, it is loosely based on her own family history. The story has wonderful descriptions of the New Zealand landscape and flora. Even though it is a book for children, the writing level has not been dumbed down. I recommend reading this book if you are studying New Zealand's history.
Some notes:
Chapter 1: Brief but intense references to domestic violence. This opens the book and sets the plot for the family to flee the home.
The first half of the book has many racist slurs made either by the author or the family. In the second half of the book, the family bonds with the local Maori village and their attitude towards other races relaxes and improves. The author does state at the beginning of her book that she uses language and customs common to the time the book is set in.
The eldest daughter decides to stay unmarried after two disappointments with love. It was not uncommon for pioneering daughters not to marry. It was a tough life and mortality rates in childbearing were high.