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.

Concise introduction to the New Zealand Wars adds a further dimension to The NZ Series

The New Zealand Wars  

Matthew Wright

Respected historian Matthew Wright has condensed his years of research and writing on the New Zealand Wars into this concise guide for readers of all ages. 

 

Building on his major works on the subject including the masterful Two Peoples, One Land (2006), Wright here consolidates his analysis into one introductory book full of illustrations, sidebars, boxes and maps. 

At 100 pages, The New Zealand Wars has over 70 images, many in colour, showing historical paintings as well as modern photos that can help direct visitors to battle sites today.

 

Why did the New Zealand Wars occur? Who fought them and how did they proceed? Where were these battles fought?

The New Zealand Wars answers these questions in probing text.

It introduces the wars’ major incidents, movements and people — including the Battle of Gate Pa and Pai Marire, and figures such as Colonel G.S. Whitmore and Te Kooti. 

Wright shows that the wars, which pitted British settlers and allied Māori against other Māori from 1845 to 1872, really ended up as a civil war fanning flames in many regions.

The New Zealand Wars is the fifth in The NZ Series, for a general and school readership, and tailored to the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum.

Click on these links to read about other titles in the series — Rush to Riches, Pioneer Women, Volcanoes and Earthquakes and First Encounters.

The author

Matthew Wright is the author of over 60 books on a wide range of topics for all ages, principally New Zealand history. A highly respected historian, he is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His other books with Oratia are Freyberg — A Life’s Journey and The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front. He lives in Wellington.

Publication: 8 July 2021  |  RRP $29.99  |  ISBN:  978-0-947506-93-3

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, 100 pages, colour

A new history of the New Zealand Wars out tomorrow

A new history of the New Zealand Wars out tomorrow provides a compact introduction that readers of all ages can access.

The New Zealand Wars: A Brief History shows how these conflicts shaped the way race relations developed in New Zealand, though there was never a simple division in who fought whom.

‘There were professional British soldiers and barely trained settlers, while Maori fought on both sides depending on prior alliances and disputes,’ says author Matthew Wright.

And although they may seem distant, some of the causes of the conflicts are still manifest in modern New Zealand.

Matthew Wright

‘The wars finally came to an end not because the issues that drove them were resolved, but because both Maori and Pakeha were looking for different ways to settle their problems.

‘This is a process that continues today,’ Wright notes. ‘Some of the injustices           

that triggered the wars, and others that were generated by them, have still to be resolved.’

With clear and concise text, colour illustrations and maps, The New Zealand Wars outlines this core history for modern readers.

Release Date: 29 July 2014  |   ISBN: 978-1-877514-68-5  |  RRP $29.99

Paperback, 210 x 160 mm, 88 pages, full colour        

To arrange an interview, review copy, images or extracts, contact:

Peter Dowling - 027 614 8993   peter@oratiamedia.com

Libro International, a division of Oratia Media

The New Zealand Wars - A Brief History

The New Zealand Wars

A Brief History

Matthew Wright

The legacy of the New Zealand Wars is all around us, but for the most part we are ignorant of how it has shaped our society – and the remnants the conflict left on the landscape.

While the far-flung places where our soldiers fought in the World Wars are rightly commemorated and cared for, most of the New Zealand War sites have been neglected.

‘Today, many of the battle sites are half-forgotten, but we can still find them,’ says historian Matthew Wright. ‘We can stand where battles were fought — in a few cases, even within some of our towns and cities.’

From the first shots in the Bay of Islands (with its bullet-marked Christ Church in Russell) to the closing manoeuvres in the King Country, Wright sets out to clarify and characterise the

conflicts that raged from 1845 to 1872.

The New Zealand Wars brings to life this history in full colour, with the help of plentiful photos and maps. Readers of all ages will be able not only to understand this key part of our history, but also connect with the battle sites that remain – for the most part – hard to find.

The author: Matthew Wright is a prolific writer and historian who is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London. His most recent work is the Bateman Illustrated History of New Zealand. He lives in Wellington.

Release Date:  29 July 2014  |  ISBN: 978-1-877514-68-5  | RRP $29.99

Paperback, 210 x 160 mm, 88 pages, full colour

To arrange an interview, review copy, images or extracts, contact:

Peter Dowling - 027 614 8993   peter@oratiamedia.com

Libro International, a division of Oratia Media