Chennai brings a world of publishing to a dynamic India

From 16–18 January I had the privilege of attending the fourth Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF) as one of the international publishing fellows invited from over 100 countries. 

Capital of the prosperous southern state of Tamil Nadu, Chennai represents India's fourth-largest urban agglomeration with a population around 9 million. The city is a hub for a host of manufacturing and creative industries, with a proud cultural tradition.

The Tamil Nadu state government is throwing its weight behind books and culture at a time when many governments in other places are turning away from support for the arts, reading and free debate. 

Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (front left) gave time to meet with Peter along with other publishers in the CIBF Rights Hub

That enlightened approach – summarised in this year's theme 'A Conversation Between Civilisations' – has led to the CIBF fast becoming a vibrant hub for rights and cultural exchange in just four years. 

At this year's instalment I was able to meet with publishers, agents, writers, translators and consultants from across Tamil Nadu, other parts of India, and around the world.

At the opening ceremony on 16 January with the outstanding Colombian publisher John Naranjo, and meeting with colleagues Fatou Sy from Senegal and Nguyen Huu Quynh Huong from Vietnam 

Our international rights manager, Maria Leonardi, was also at the fair as she took a working break from current travels in India. 

Maria Leonardi, interviewed by CIBF for her impressions of the fair

Together we had several dozen formal meetings over three days, interspersed by the many networking opportunities that a fellowship affords. 

Of special import was advancing our edition of the classic Tamil work The Thirukkural, in a Māori translation by University of Waikato lecturer Ngairo Eruera edited by New Zealand-based editor and community organiser Peniel Prabhakaran.

With Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, the outstanding American translator of The Thirukkural

That included showing an uncorrected proof of the book to Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and , and valuable discussion with American translator and poet Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, whose superb English translation forms the bridge between Tamil and Māori in our edition. 

Most valuable also the reconnection with Dr Sankara Saravanan and Peer Mohamed Azees of the Tamil Nadu Texbook and Educational Services Corporation, which has licensed the publication of this modern translation of the sixth-century work by Thiruvalluvar. 

Te Tirukurare / The Thirukkural will publish under Oratia's Five Oceans imprint mid-2026 in close collaboration with Chennai-based Kelir Books and the Tamil community of Aotearoa. 

It was most encouraging to see the response to work by Oratia authors from science and history writer Matthew Wright to Kiwi-Indian children's author Renisa Maki. 

There is impressive growth in book output from Tamil Nadu, and it was good to meet publishers from Tamil Nadu and beyond to see what they're proposing.

A pleasure to catch up with Ival Bharathi of Nam Publications, Chennai, together with her family

Sharing good books with Chennai-based literary agent Vishali Janarthanan and colleagues

And sharing books about social inclusion with Maharasthra publisher Prashant Tambe

It was also opportune to share the Five Oceans edition of The Ant Rebellion with the Turkish literature agency TEDA, and Thank you, Forest with Benas Berantas of Book Smugglers Agency, Lithuania, who negotiated our rights acquisition. 

Memorable performances, panels and cultural presentations punctuated meetings at the Rights Hub, along with the superb cuisine on offer.

Now begins the work of sharing information and reading copies as we work to sell rights and reach new readers in India and beyond. 

Maria and I extend our sincere thanks to the fair organisers and all those in Chennai for their hospitality, generosity and commitment to bringing Tamil to the world and the world to Tamil.

The Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.K. Stalin at the closing ceremony with Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and other dignitaries

With further commitments to literary funding announced by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the fair's closing ceremony, the future looks bright for the CIBF and the reading culture of southern India.

Peter Dowling, Publisher

Two new books celebrate the fun of Christmas and its South Pacific flavours

Just right for the stocking or under the tree come two delightful books that will entertain children this Christmas:

From our Moana Oceania Series comes the bilingual A Manulele in a Mango Tree/Le Manulele o nofo i le Mago, in English and Gagana Sāmoa — and for the fans of the best-selling New Bum series, the new hilarious seasonal adventure Santa needs a NEW BUM! 

Scroll down to read more.

A Manulele in a Mango Tree
Le Manulele o nofo i le Mago

Sarona Aiono-Iosefa 
Illustrated by Steven Dunn 
Translated by Le’autuli Sauvao

A partridge in a pear tree is something you won’t see at Christmas in New Zealand, let alone the South Pacific. But a colourful bird in a mango tree that’s more like it.

A Manulele in a Mango Tree brings the '12 Days of Christmas' to the South Pacific with gifts including frangipani, corned beef, drummers and fire dancers.

Strikingly illustrated with woodblock prints, this bilingual book gives a summery setting to Christmas while celebrating many aspects of Pacific culture, from weaving to drumming to dance.

In the vein of the classic A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree, this picture book will make a great gift or a fun read around the Christmas tree.

The authors

Sarona Aiono-Iosefa is a Samoan-New Zealand writer, senior manager and former journalist who has written several books for children. She lives in Wellington.

Steven Dunn is an artist and illustrator. He lives in Christchurch, where he works as a graphic designer.

Le’autuli Sauvao MNZM, JP was a distinguished educator and translator of Gagana Sāmoa (the Samoan language). Sadly, she passed away in August.

Publication: 5 November 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004292-8 |  RRP $21  

 PB, 230 mm x 215 mm portrait, 32 pp, colour

Santa needs a NEW BUM!

Dawn McMillan 
Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

Who would believe it? Santa and Red Pants Boy are sitting together for tea. But as well as festive cheer, Santa brings a problem: his bum is ill-fitting from all of the sitting!

Can our hero and his family help Santa get his bum back in shape in time for Christmas present deliveries?

This festive and funny tale will spread Christmas joy to all the kids, parents and grandparents who can’t get enough of the New Bum! shenanigans.

Dawn McMillan’s playful rhymes and Ross Kinnaird’s vibrant drawings bring an exciting holiday adventure to New Bum! fans around the world, continuing the success of this globally bestselling series.

The authors

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of many children’s books, including I Need a New Bum!, I’ve Broken my Bum!, There’s a Moa in the Moonlight and Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms. A retired primary-school teacher with a love of reading, she lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 

Ross Kinnaird is an illustrator and graphic designer whose books, many of them in collaboration with Dawn, have been published in many countries. After a career as a creative director, he now creates books from his home close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore.

Publication: 9 October 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004282-9  |  RRP $21  

 PB, 230 x 215 mm, 32 pp, colour

Interview: Johanna Venho and Sanna Pelliccioni talk about Thank you, Forest

Sanna Pelliccioni

Johanna Venho 

Thank you, Forest

An interview with Finnish author-illustrator team, Johanna Venho and Sanna Pelliccioni

The gorgeous picture book Thank you, Forest reached the bookshelves of Oceania in November, with the hardback printing of the book by Five Oceans. Originally published in Finland, Thank you, Forest brings to children a story about care for trees and the mysteries inside forests, in an English translation by Jennifer Pulju Porter.

Author Johanna Venho and illustrator Sanna Pelliccioni talk about the creation of this book that is now reaching children in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific. 

Sanna, Johanna, thank you for joining us. How does it feel to have your book published in English?

Sanna: Thank you for publishing this book on the other side of the planet, it's wonderful! I feel especially honoured knowing that some indigenous people might also read our story of protecting trees. The nature there must be so different, but around the world we share nowadays the same problems of deforestation and destroying the nature, but also people waking up to what's happening and what we can do. Writing poems to trees is such a wonderful idea. And also listening to what a tree answers. 

Johanna: It’s amazing. It’s like a fairy tale itself, a traveling book. Sometimes I ask myself: is this really true? I am truly happy about it. 

What inspired you to write this magical book about a girl’s relationship to the forest? 

Sanna: We started the book during the pandemic, so we met outside, walking in parks or swimming in the Baltic Sea. Our co-operation is wonderful, we are in deep dialogue, and we both share a deep connection to nature and also the subconscious nature in ourselves. Our co-operation goes on, and the third book project of this series is just starting. 

Johanna: I love fairy tales and folk tales, and they have for a long time inspired my poetry, but also my books for children. I wanted to tell a story that shows the power of imagination. Also, I have studied biology, and nature, particularly forests, are close to my heart. We discussed for a long time with Sanna that we’d like to do together a book about trees and forests, to protect them, to value them, to remind readers of their importance.

What techniques did you use capture nature to make the pages feel like a notebook that a child has put together?

Sanna: I graduated first as a biologist and studied illustration after that. Many of my books talk about nature and the environment. For a long time, I wanted to use my old dried plant samples in illustration and eventually, in this book, I did. I love notebooks, collecting samples, and taking notes. It was wonderful to bring this variable style inside this book.

How did you imagine the characters Spruce and Gale, who are totally believable but also otherworldly and inspiring?

Johanna: The best thing in writing is imagining things. My head is full of characters looking for stories! And I go around looking for stories. I walked a lot in the forest and imagined about what kind of characters I’s like to write about.  

  

Johanna, you are a poet also. Is the writing process very different between poetry and a picture book like Thank you, Forest?

Johanna: Yes, they are very different processes. Prose for adults takes a lot of time and energy and sitting by the computer and libraries. Poetry on the other hand is a work of endless editing. In writing picture books, it’s important to play and have fun, let the imagination fly. I see both poetry and stories in my picture books quite visually. After the story is born, I write it many times and change and edit again and again, until I am happy with the text. 

You collaborate closely on all aspects of the book, it seems.

Sanna: This book is our mutual co-operation from the beginning. Initially, I asked Johanna if she is interested in writing a book about a child protecting trees and forests, because our forests are being cut down at an enormous rate. I wish the illustrator would be noted like the author.

Johanna: As I write mostly by myself, I truly enjoy co-operation with illustrators. It’s amazing to follow how the world of words turns into images and colours. 

Are you working on any books at the moment – if you are ready to talk about them?

Johanna: Sanna and I are now onto the third book of this "series” of notebooks about Spruce and Gale. It is called School Notebook and will be published in 2027. The second was Travel Notebook (as Thank you, Forest is Forest Notebook in Finnish). I am also writing a historical novel, which I have been working on already for quite a while. 

A grant from the Finnish Literature Exchange supported this book to be published in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

The authors

Johanna Venho is a leading author and poet based in Finland who has written for both adults and children. Among the many awards for her books, she received the prestigious Arvid Lydecken Prize for Children’s Literature in 2003. 

Sanna Pelliccioni is an award-winning illustrator and children’s author whose work has been widely translated. She featured in the IBBY honour list 2022. Sanna lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Jen Pulju Porter is a Finnish-American translator who has worked across a range of genres in her career. She currently lives in Colorado, USA.

Publication: 7 November 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004294-2 |  RRP $25.99

Hardback, 240 x 175 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

'New Zealand’s greatest tribal history' returns to print

Tuhoe, volume 1

Tuhoe

The Children of the Mist

Elsdon Best

Preface to the fifth edition by Rāpata Wiri

The work that has been called 'New Zealand’s greatest tribal history' returns to print a century after its first publication, in quality hardback volumes

 

‘As a tribal historian and a Tūhoe descendant, I believe we are  fortunate that this book was published; otherwise our tribal histories and our whakapapa may have been lost forever.’

Rāpata Wiri, from the preface

Tuhoe, volume 2

Oratia Books is honoured to bring back into print what has been described as ‘New Zealand’s greatest tribal history’, 100 years on from its first publication.

Tuhoe: The Children of the Mist is a monumental publication in its own right, with a first volume of over 1200 pages and a second that presents detailed whakapapa (genealogical charts) and maps.

During the early twentieth century ethnologist Elsdon Best lived for many years in the Urewera country. He carefully documented the culture, beliefs, customs and whakapapa of the Ngāi Tūhoe people – whom he called ‘the children of the mist’.

This celebrated two-volume work comes back into print with the guidance of scholar Dr Rāpata Wiri (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani), whose doctoral thesis provided a re-evaluation of Best’s work.

Volume 1 presents Best’s history of the Urewera, from the first settlement from Polynesia through to the arrival of Europeans and resultant conflict. In great detail he presents the

traditions, myths, religious beliefs and practices of the Urewera peoples.

The large-format volume 2 contains the many whakapapa relating to Ngāi Tūhoe and other iwi descended from the Mātaatua waka. 

A slipcased set is available for book lovers and collectors.

Tuhoe: The Children of the Mist is on sale in bookstores nationwide and in Australia.

The Author

Elsdon Best lived from 1895 to 1910 among the Ngāi Tūhoe people in the then-remote Te Urewera, where European presence was minimal. He filled notebooks with information that took shape in the present book. Eventually he became an officer of the Dominion Museum, where he compiled many publications. He was a foundation member of the Polynesian Society, and in 1914 was awarded the Hector medal for research in ethnology. Elsdon Best passed away in 1931.

Publication: 12 November 2025

Vol. 1, ISBN: 978-1-99-004286-7  |  RRP $100  |  Hardback, 212 x 130 mm portrait, 1232 pages, b&w

Vol. 2, ISBN: 978-1-99-004287-4  |  RRP $65  |  Hardback, 213 x 278 mm portrait, 104 pp, b&w

Slipcased set, ISBN: 978-1-99-004291-1  |  RRP $175

From the forests of Finland, a thank you to nature for young readers in Oceania

Thank you, Forest

Johanna Venho

Illustrated by Sanna Pelliccioni

Translated by Jennifer Pulju Porter

Travelling all the way from the forests of Finland to the ngāhere of New Zealand, Thank you, Forest is a unique book for children — a story in the form of a child's notebook. 

Finnish author and poet Johanna Venho conjures up the world of Spruce, a young girl whose sanctuary is the forest near her house.

She writes and collects from the nature around her to fill her notebook with items that enrich her life.

Then her parents and brother Zach start to look glum and talk about the forest being 'zoned'. 

‘What does “zoned” mean?’ I ask.

‘It means they’re going to build apartment blocks here,’ Zach says.

Spruce returns to the forest and ties notes to the trees as a type of protest. The notes are seen by a mysterious boy with green eyes and twigs in his hair, who introduces himself as Gale. 

Gale takes Spruce to see an underground lake deep in  forest. Could this be secret they need to save the trees from destruction? 

Thank you, Forest conjures up a sense of belonging in nature that is perfectly reflected in Sanna Pelliccioni’s notebook-style illustrations.

Noted Finnish-American translator Jennifer Pulju Porter crafted the English text. 

A grant from the Finnish Literature Exchange supported this book to be published in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

The authors

Johanna Venho is a leading author and poet based in Finland who has written for both adults and children. Among the many awards for her books, she received the prestigious Arvid Lydecken Prize for Children’s Literature in 2003. 

Sanna Pelliccioni is an award-winning illustrator and children’s author whose work has been widely translated. She featured in the IBBY honour list 2022. Sanna lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Jen Pulju Porter is a Finnish-American translator who has worked across a range of genres in her career. She currently lives in Colorado, USA.

Publication: 7 November 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004294-2 |  RRP $25.99

Hardback, 240 x 175 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour