Merry Christmas to one and all! Meri Kirihimete ki a koutou katoa! Buon Natale a tutti!

 

They make it happen: a salute to Oratia's contributors

When a book is published, it's rightly the author (and oftentimes illustrator) that receive kudos and publicity, and have their photos on our website and in the media. 

The core team that runs Oratia Books (Alessandra, Belinda, Carolyn and Peter) are also profiled on the website and get to bask in the reflected glory of every new title or reprint. 

Beyond that, though, are a range of dedicated individuals at work to ensure our books are well edited, designed, printed, promoted, distributed and sold. 

At the risk of missing someone out, here's an end-of-year shout out to the folks whose work behind the scenes has enabled our 2022 books to reach the world:

• Senior editor Frances Chan, who handles much of our manuscript assessment, proofreading, indexing and keeping the books on track

• Freelance editors Mike Bradstock, Susan Brierley, Ross Calman, Mary de Ruyter, Ella Fischer, Sam Hill, Jane Hingston, Diane Lowther and Mike Wagg (if there's a typo in this post, they will spot it)

• Ngā mihi ki te reo Māori translators Stephanie Huriana Fong and Kanapu Rangitauira

• We don't have an inhouse design department but Cheryl Smith (who's been on board since our first publications in 2009) is as good as one, and with fellow designer Sarah Elworthy are integral members of the Oratia whānau — can't thank them enough

• Out in the field presenting the list and taking orders are outstanding sales reps Dennis Morgan (Northland), Gary Shannon (rest of North Island) and Annie Martin (South Island). Selling a book is generally the hardest part of publishing, so our hats are permanently off to them and to all of our bookseller customers

• Taking the orders and making sure they are filled is down to Toni Hayman, Marie Edwards and their amazing team at Publishers Distribution Ltd (PDL). We couldn't ask for more from a distributor and customer services team

• Getting the books from overseas printers to New Zealand, and from here to readers overseas, is in the sure hands of Book Systems International; much appreciation to Chris Shaw, Nick Heinemann, Kevin Agnew, Matt Tuilaepa and crew

• And that's not to mention our printers locally and in Asia, distributors internationally, or industry colleagues here and overseas that play vital roles in preparing our books for market

All of these fine folk ensure our talented authors and illustrators reach readers in New Zealand and around the world, and we salute you!

Inflation busters: Māui — Sun Catcher and Rona Moon return in more affordable paperbacks

Māui – Sun Catcher / Māui – Te Kaihao i te Rā 

Tim Tipene

Illustrated by Zak Waipara

Translated by Rob Ruha

Rona Moon / Ko Rona Māhina

Tim Tipene

Illustrated by Theresa Reihana

Translated by Stephanie Huriana Fong

 

Paperback editions of Tim Tipene's retelling of two traditional stories are now in print, offering these fully bilingual English and Te Reo editions in a more affordable format. 

The paperback editions are priced at $22.99, a 12% reduction from the previous hardback books. 

Māui — Sun Catcher/Te Kaihao i te Rā sets the famous story of Māui catching the sun in a modern city. Māui is a schoolboy who lives with this mother and four older brothers in a city where the day is never long enough to things done. 

Māui (who speaks in rhyme) seizes the moment:

Mum, I’m gonna catch that Sun for you.

That Sun who’s always on the run. 

Te Rā ka hopukina mōhau, e māmā.

Te Rā, ka hohoro te kakama.

After weaving a flax net, the brothers drive to the pit where the Sun lives, and make their play to slow the day. 

Award-winning author Tim Tipene weaves a spell-binding modern tale, accompanied by manga-influenced illustrations by esteemed artist Zak Waipara, with te reo Māori translation by musical star Rob Ruha.

Rona Moon/Ko Rona Māhina stars Rona as a young girl who gets angry with everyone — her brother, her Nana and Papa — until one night she calls the moon stupid!

Taken to meet her ancestor Whaea Rona on the moon, she learns a lesson in how to control her temper:

‘Everything looks so small from up here,’ said Rona. 

‘I know,’ Whaea beamed. ‘Even the reasons we felt angry seem so little.’

 

‘Hanga nohinohi te ao katoa atu i konei,’ tā Rona. 

‘E mea ana koe,’ te mene atu a Whaea. ‘Kua hanga nohinohi hoki ngā take i pupū ai ō tāua riri.’

Tai Tokerau artist Theresa Reihana created special illustrators, using photo collage approach, and Stephanie Huriana Fong (familiar to viewers of Whakaata Māori) provided a superb translation. 

 

These books are a great read for primary school readers, students of te Reo and anyone who loves traditional stories, myths and retellings. 

 

The authors

Tim Tipene (Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Whātua) is the award-winning author of over 12 children’s books, and a pioneering youth counsellor. He lives with his family in Rānui, West Auckland. 

Zak Waipara (Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Ruapani) is a renowned illustrator and writer of books, comics and animations. He is a lecturer in digital media at the Auckland University of Technology.  

Theresa Reihana (Ngāti Hine) is a visual artist who has exhibited worldwide, and is now venturing into book illustration; she lives near Kaitaia. 

Translators

Rob Ruha (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou) is a chart-topping musician, songwriter and champion of te reo Māori who is based in Rotorua. 

Stephanie Huriana Fong (Te Rarawa) is a registered translator of te Reo who also works in television and other media; she lives in Te Atatū, Auckland

Publication: 17 November 2022  |  RRP $22.99 |

ISBN: (Māui) 978-1-99-004232-4  (Rona) 978-1-99-004233-1

 Paperback, 270 x 210 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

 

The late Sir Toby Curtis lays out a wero to future generations in new book written with Lorraine Berridge McLeod

Toby Curtis
Unfinished Business – Ki hea āpōpō

Sir Toby Curtis with Lorraine Berridge McLeod

The late Te Arawa leader sets out his life from poverty to  knighthood with frank views on education and racism

Knowing that he was unwell, over the past year the late Sir Toby Curtis worked with long-time friend Dr Lorraine Berridge McLeod to record his life and views on key areas from his stellar career — especially Māori education and leadership, and his experience of racism. 

Toby Curtis – Unfinished business: Ki hea āpōpō follows Toby’s progress from his humble origins through family life and his mahi as a teacher and lecturer, government adviser in education and broadcasting, and leader of the Te Arawa iwi confederation. 

Interspersed throughout are text boxes that take a more academic approach to key issues like the loss of te reo, religious colonisation, educational underachievement and government policy.

The result is an engaging story of a life emerging from the shadows of a Pākehā-led model to a bicultural society, balanced with opinions that will challenge and inform thinkers for years to come. 

Sir Toby passed away on 17 August. This book stands as his legacy to the nation he cared about so passionately, and sets out a wero (challenge). 

As the subtitle indicates, Tā Toby felt his life’s work to be unfinished, with a long way to go to for Aotearoa. Ki hea āpōpō!

Moe mai, moe mai, moe mai rā e te rangatira. Rest in peace, chief. Your words carry forward the business for others to finish.

The authors

Sir Toby Curtis (Ngāti Rongomai, Ngāti Pikiao) had a distinguished teaching career before lecturing at AUT University. After retiring to Rotoiti, Rotorua, he led the Te Arawa Lakes Trust for 16 years, among many other roles. Sadly, he passed away before this book could be published. 

From a farming background, Lorraine Berridge McLeod was a teacher, principal lecturer at AUT, dean of early childhood education in Auckland and then associate professor of education in the United Arab Emirates. A long-time colleague of Sir Toby’s, she lives in Taranaki. 

Publication Date: 17 November 2022 |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004230-0  |  RRP $39.99

Paperback, 234 x 153 mm portrait, 180 pages, black & white with colour sections     

Oratia's library of Teacher Resources now extends to The NZ Series

Helping time-pressured teachers to use our books in classrooms is a long-term goal of the Oratia Books team. 

So we're pleased to have just launched free Teacher Resources for three of our NZ Series books.

The resource sheets are available for free download from our website for the latest addition to the series, the stunning Weather and Climate New Zealand, along with The New Zealand Wars and Pioneer Women. Links to each resource are on the respective book pages.

The NZ Series introduces New Zealand society, history, science and geography to intermediate- and high-school age readers

Teacher Resources will be out for the other three titles currently in the series — Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Rush to Riches: Kauri and Gold and First Encounters: New Zealand 1642–1840 — in February 2023. 

The resources provide a range of student activities linked to the books, along with guidance for use in line with the New Zealand Curriculum. Retired teacher Sandra Carrod, author of Weather and Climate New Zealand, put together the resource for her book, while the other two are the work of Clementine Fraser, Head of History at Avondale College, Auckland. 

From The River in our Backyard Teacher Resource

We have a range of resources at a more junior level for other books, among them two just-released bilingual picture books: The River in our Backyard/Te Awa e Pātata Rawa Ana and The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street/Ngā Kuia o te Tiriti o Pikitea.

A page from The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street Teacher Resource

Other titles with resources include the Nanny Mihi series, Blimmin' Koro, Captain Cat, Home Child, The Forgotten Wars, The Longdrop, The Water Bottle, When Dad Came Home, and Dawn McMillan's nature series. 

For more detail, refer to our website, or contact Peter Dowling, Publisher.

New book in The NZ Series makes understanding our weather a breeze

Weather and Climate 
New Zealand

Sandra Carrod

Our complex and changing weather patterns explained in simple text and stunning graphics for readers of all ages

Once in a while there comes a book so informative that its publishers end up thanking the author for all she’s taught them. 

Weather and Climate New Zealand is such a book. Drawing on her years as a teacher and navigator, Sandra Carrod takes the windy science of meteorology and makes it a breeze to understand.

Integral to the book’s impact are the dazzling graphics of marine scientist turned graphics whizz Karsten Schneider, alongside imagery from NASA, NIWA and local photographers.

Short, crisply written chapters explore all the key elements of climate — making clear where our islands fit in global patterns, and what influences the weather wherever you live in Aotearoa.

What causes cyclones and tornadoes? How do you decipher a weather chart? And what effects do the oceans have on New Zealand weather?  

Answers to these and myriad other topics are set in the context of climate change and the many challenges it presents. After reading this book, reading the weather will become easy.

Weather and Climate New Zealand is the sixth in The NZ Series, simply introducing a range of themes for general and school readers. Teacher resources for the series can be found on the Oratia website.

The author

Sandra Carrod is a retired teacher who has written several non-fiction books for children, including Weather Watch New Zealand. She and her family travelled the world by yacht for many years, working with marine scientists and documentary filmmakers. Sandra lives in Tauranga. 

Publication: 17 October 2022  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004226-3 | RRP $29.99

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm portrait, 100 pages, colour

First fully bilingual Sharing our Stories book connects kids with local heritage and multiple cultures

The River in our Backyard 
Te Awa e Pātata Rawa Ana   

                       

Malcolm Paterson
Illustrated by Martin Bailey

You don’t need an overseas trip to encounter centuries of history and unique environments, as the Sharing Our Stories books reveal.

The River in our Backyard /Te Awa e Pātata Rawa Ana is the fourth in the series and the first to be fully bilingual in English and te reo, both written by Malcolm Paterson. 

It also includes Tamil language, and publishes just ahead of the Diwali festival.

Malcolm says he is delighted to offer a new book through which tamariki and their whānau can engage with their social, cultural and environmental heritage — and which can be a local curriculum resource for schools. 

"My Indian Malaysian wife and I have a lovely 'fruit salad' whānau and there are many others like us. I hope that they see themselves reflected in my books, which acknowledge different cultures in our communities."

The new story again follows cousins Tui and Jennifer and their whānau on a voyage of discovery, this time into the history and nature of Auckland’s Te Atatū Peninsula and nearby places within reach by sea and river.

The children learn local heritage, human development and impact, the environment and conservation, and get to join in Diwali celebrations.

All the adventures are brought to life in Martin Bailey’s vibrant artwork. A Teacher Resource PDF for the book is also available on our website.

The authors

Malcolm Paterson belongs to Ngāti Whātua iwi, for which he plays heritage, commercial and environmental roles. He is the author of the previous three  Sharing our Stories books. Malcolm  lives with his family in Te Atatū, Auckland. 

Martin Bailey is a well-known illustrator who has created dozens of  children’s books, including illustrations for The Taniwha in our Backyard. He also manages the publisher Black Chook Books. Martin lives in Muriwai.

Exploring historic sites on Te Atatu Peninsula, Auckland while working on The River in our Backyard/Te Awa e Pātata Rawa Ana. From left: author Malcom Paterson (pictured with his eldest son, Davin), illustrator Martin Bailey (centre) and publisher Peter Dowling

Publication Date: 17 October 2022 |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004219-5 |  RRP $22.99

Paperback, 284 x 208 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour 

The human impact on New Zealand revealed in captivating new book

Footprints on the Land
How Humans Changed New Zealand 

Richard Wolfe

It must have been a hell of a shock. After millions of years of isolation, New Zealand’s unique flora and fauna suddenly felt the stir of human footprints just over 800 years ago. 

In the blink of an eye in terms of the Earth’s history, the last large landmass to be settled by humans changed in ways impossible to reverse. 

 

Footprints on the Land narrates those changes, taking in the destruction of forests, draining and flooding land, building railways and roads, farming and mining, and the inexorable spread of towns and cities. 

Some of the more dramatic changes, carried out in the name of progress, appear very differently through a modern lens. 

 

Richard Wolfe accompanies his even-handed account of the effects of human settlement with an astute selection of paintings and photography befitting a curator and art writer. 

He also charts the growth of the environmental movement, with a number of high-profile national campaigns. 

That heightened awareness has helped to avoid repeating mistakes of the past, but Wolfe shows compellingly that we are not yet — as it were — out of the woods. 

Habitat destruction, pollution, species introductions and (above all) climate change threaten the short history of people on these islands. When will the shock be absorbed?

The Author

Richard Wolfe is a cultural historian and curator who has written or co-authored some 40 books on themes from the moa to New Zealand art, including Hellhole of the Pacific and New Zealand’s Lost Heritage. He was a display artist at the Auckland and Canterbury museums, and co-curated the first major exhibition of Kiwiana (a term he helped invent). Richard lives with his artist wife Pamela in Auckland.

Publication Date: 12 October 2022 |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004220-1 |  RRP $45

Paperback, 250 x 185 mm portrait, 184 pages, b/w with colour sections

Happy 10th Birthday to I Need a New Bum!

Happy Birthday to the boy in the red pants!

 I Need a New Bum! — Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird's zany tale about a boy who discovers his backside has a crack — turns 10 years old today. 

Published on 20 September 2012, the picture book was well received locally and shown to the world soon after during New Zealand's Country of Honour programme at the Frankfurt Book Fair (where publisher Peter Dowling donned the first of what would become a number of New Bum t-shirts). 

Dover Publications jumped aboard with its edition, I Need a New Butt! in 2014, CITIC Press followed with a Chinese version in 2015, and Brazil's Telos Editora followed with Preciso do um nouvo bumbum! in 2018.

In September that year, a Facebook reading by Janice Clark ('the Scottish Granny') made our 'red pants boy' into an Internet sensation, and editions followed from Scholastic UK, Midnight House (Korea) and Adriano Salani (Italy). 

Now, after 10 years, the boy trying to find a new bum has cracked up millions of readers worldwide, appeared in board books and noise books and collections, featured on TVNZ's Seven Sharp, become a favourite in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's household, and is soon to star in a 'find the new butt' game (to be released by Spin Master in early 2023).

Along the way he's created a whole family of books — now extending to I've Broken My Bum!, My Bum is SO NOISY!, My Bum is SO CHEEKY! and My Bum is so CHRISTMASSY! 

It's all a long way from its origins in Dawn's head, on a road trip to Rotorua — and the trip goes on (as Dionne Christian summed up so well in her recent article on Kete Books). 

To celebrate the 10th birthday, Stephanie Huriana Fong has translated the book into te reo Māori — Kia Hou Taku Tou! hit the bookstores of Aotearoa at the start of September, in time for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. (See this coverage on Te Ao Māori News.)

March 2023 will see the next addition to the New Bum family with the global release of My Bum's ON THE RUN!

From Oratia Books a big thank you to Dawn and Ross for their dedication and imagination, to all our bookseller and publisher partners, and to our own Bum team (especially editor Carolyn Lagahetau, designer Cheryl Smith, and marketing wiz Belinda Cooke). 

Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird

And a very Happy Birthday to I Need a New Bum!

Publication: 20 September 2012  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-18-6 | RRP $19.99

Paperback, 230 x 215 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour