Activities galore in book that extends the fun of the hit New Bum! series

I Need a New Bum! Activity Book
Betsy Ochester and Dawn McMillan
Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

The newest addition to the global phenomenon that is the New Bum! series aims to get young readers engaged and having fun.

Responding to demand from families around the world, the I Need a New Bum! Activity Book offers amazing mazes, word games, bum puzzles, drawing challenges, code crackers, jokes and more.

The cheeky young hero from the Bum books takes readers through an awesome bunch of activities to keep kids cracking up for hours. 

Open the pages to help him slide through a sand dune maze, blast into outer space in the best seat in the house, and figure out the punchlines to a load of bum jokes. There’s even a song to compose – ‘The Broken Bum Blues’!

Author and illustrator dream team Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird partnered with US puzzle expert Betsy Ochester to bring this fun-packed book to bum fans around the world.

With the zany drawings and silly humour of the New Bum! series, this activity book will keep the kids — and the whole family — entertained for hours.

The authors

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of many children’s books, including  I Need a New Bum!, My Bum is SO SPOOKY!, There’s a Moa in the Moonlight and Colour the Stars. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 

Betsy Ochester is an editor, writer and puzzle creator for children. Betsy has worked on more than 200 puzzle, activity and non-fiction books for children. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

The illustrator

Ross Kinnaird is an illustrator and graphic designer whose books have been published in many countries, many of them in collaboration with Dawn. He lives close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore.

Publication: 5 November 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004246-1 | RRP $21.00

Paperback, 230 x 215 mm portrait, 48 pages, black & white

Multicultural picture book with Kiwi Indian main character tells the importance of people's names

 

What’s in a Name?
He aha tō te Ingoa?

Renisa Viraj Maki

Illustrated by Isobel Joy Te-Aho White

Translated by Hona Black

Heart-warming story for children explains the importance of  understanding and pronouncing people’s names 

Kiwi-Indian author Renisa Viraj Maki’s newest book tells a gentle and beautiful story about the mana our names carry. 

In a school that reflects modern, multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand, pupils from diverse cultures have names that might seem difficult to say – a situation that many children encounter. 

Priyanka definitely is worried when she is tasked with reading out the students’ names at the end-of-year assembly. Wanting to pronounce them correctly, she goes around the school yard to find her classmates and learn about their names.

Knowing how important the names are to her friends and their whānau, she practises hard to pronounce Arihia, Xinze, Somachandra, Sean and Tausa’afia – will she be ready for the big day?

Colourfully illustrated by award-winning artist Isobel Joy Te Aho-White and translated by bestselling author Hona Black, this is a book to read and reread at home and in school.

This bilingual book is available from all good booksellers. A free Teacher Resource is available from the Oratia website.

The author

Renisa Viraj Maki is a Kiwi-Indian leadership consultant and artist who is a graduate in art history. She is dedicated to writing stories that reflect cultural diversity; her first book The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street was a Storylines Notable Book. She lives in Auckland. 

The illustrator

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu, UK, Denmark) has won many awards for her illustrations in children’s books. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington.

The translator

Hona Black (Tūhoe, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) lectures on teaching for Māori-medium schools at Massey University and is the author of three popular books about te reo. 

Publication: 5 November 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004263-8 | RRP $22.99

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

Poutini: landmark book documents the remarkable Māori history of the South Island West Coast

Poutini: The Māori History of the West Coast
Paul Madgwick

‘Māori have lived on Te Tai Poutini for at least as long as anywhere else on these islands called New Zealand, bound by ancient stories and a unique affinity to pounamu,’ says journalist, iwi historian and West Coaster Paul Madgwick. ‘So why is the Māori story so impoverished in a region so rich in storytelling?’ 

In his new 528-page book Poutini: The Māori History of the West Coast, Madgwick sets out to correct this by recording the Ngāi Tahu history of the West Coast, one of the most colourful of New Zealand regions.

Drawing on a lifetime of research, he grounds the history in early Poutini mythology and considers the migration to and occupation of Te Tai Poutini by different iwi (tribes), which led to conflicts for control of pounamu and land. 

He gives a detailed account of the succession of Māori settlements along the West Coast, interweaving pre-contact history with early interactions between Pākehā explorers and Ngāi Tahu, land sales and the allocation of Māori reserves, all of which also feature in dedicated chapters. 

The book takes in the impact of the West Coast gold rushes — and the pivotal role Poutini Ngāi Tahu played in these — and the two World Wars, development in the twentieth century through to the 1998 Ngāi Tahu Settlement, and the issues faced today. Throughout, it is the voices and images of Ngāi Tahu people that speak loud.

Although general histories of Te Tai Poutini are widely known throughout the iwi, knowledge has remained scattered and hidden, as noted by Sir Tipene O’Regan in his foreword. 

Poutini pulls these different histories into one place, incorporating a wealth of historic and contemporary photographs, detailed maps and whakapapa (genealogical charts).

This, then, is a comprehensive story of the Poutini coast, from the mists of legends to the bloody pounamu wars, the Māori discovery of gold to the feats of great mountain climbers, and the uneasy transition into a changing world.

Poutini is a joint publication of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Oratia Books. In addition to our thanks to Paul for his amazing work, Oratia acknowledges Helen Brown, Takerei Norton and Iain Gover and their team at Ngāi Tahu for all their mahi. 

Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio is launching Poutini today at Māwhera Pā in Greymouth, and a public event to present the book will take place in early December in Hokitika. 

The author

Photo courtesy Greymouth Star

Paul Madgwick (Ngāti Māhaki, Ngāi Tahu) was born and bred in Hokitika. He has been involved with Poutini Ngāi Tahu affairs all his adult life. For two decades Paul has chaired Te Rūnanga o Makaawhio, based at Maitahi. Considered an authority on the Māori history of Te Tai Poutini, Paul was also a key informant for the Ngāi Tahu digital public atlas, www.kahurumanu.co.nz. With a 40-year career in journalism, he has been editor of the Greymouth Star newspaper and related titles since 2005. Paul is one of two iwi councillors on the Westland District Council, and a member of the West Coast Mayors, Chairs and Iwi Forum. He lives on Te Tai Poutini with whānau.

Publication: 5 November 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004244-7 | RRP $75.00

Hardback, 250 x 185 mm portrait, 528 pages, colour

There's a Crab in my Castle takes young readers to the rocky shore

There’s a Crab in my Castle / He Pāpaka kei taku Pā

Dawn McMillan

Illustrated by Nikki Slade Robinson

Translated by Stephanie Huriana Fong

Fourth book in bilingual nature story series takes young readers to meet seaside creatures 

Summer is coming and there’s plenty of action for young readers down at the seashore in the latest addition to the nature story series by bestselling author Dawn McMillan.

When an inquisitive girl goes to the rocky shore she builds a sandcastle and soon gets many visitors: crab and sandhoppers, snapper, kina, manta ray and more.

 

The fun ensemble of seaside creatures is brought to life across colourful pages with evocative pictures.

With an info page about the animals encountered, There’s a Crab in my Castle encourages young readers to explore the rocky shore and learn about the creatures of sand and sea.

 

A classy hardback edition with bilingual text in English and Māori, this is a book for the bach and for whānau to read together at the end of a long day at the beach.

A teacher resource will be available on the Oratia website.

The Authors

Dawn McMillan is an internationally bestselling writer of children’s books who lives north of Thames. Among her many popular works are I Need a New Bum! and Colour the Stars. She began her Nature Series of books in 2018.

Nikki Slade Robinson is an award-winning, globally successful illustrator and writer who lives in Ōpōtiki. Among her other works are the Muddle and Mo series and The Seven Stars of Matariki. She has also illustrated Dawn's nature book There's a Tui in our Teapot and There's a Moa in the Moonlight. 

Stephanie Huriana Fong is a translator and TV presenter who lives with her whānau in Auckland. She has translated other books by Dawn including Kia Hou Taku Tou! (the Māori edition of I Need a New Bum!).

Publication Date: 15 October 2024 |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004262-1 |  RRP $25.99

Hardback, 270 x 210 mm, 32 pages colour

Photo-packed introduction to the people, culture and identity of Fiji arrives in new bilingual book

Moana Oceania Series: Fiji - Viti
Tarisi Vunidilo

Despite Fiji being among the largest Pacific Island nations, there is a dearth of good books about the country in print. 

 

This fourth volume in the Moana Oceania Series aims to address that situation with highly illustrated text in English and Fijian.

 

Fijian–New Zealand educator Tarisi Vunidilo introduces the people, culture and identity of her homeland in simple terms in the colourful and informative Moana Oceania: Fiji - Viti.

 

The bilingual text offers insights into society, geography, legends, arts, history and language — outlining the values of Fiji’s people, and how families live and celebrate life. 

 

A section is dedicated to the more than 20,000 Fijians who live in New Zealand and how they remain connected to their culture.

The striking design with info boxes, colour photos, illustrations and maps make Fiji – Viti  fun to read — and it’s easy to relate the English to the Fijian text.

This and other books in the series are contributing to the use of indigenous languages: Fiji – Viti will hit the bookstores just before Fiji Day (the national day, on 10 October) and during Macawa ni Vosa VakaViti – Fijian Language Week, which runs from 6–12 October 2024. 

 

The author

Tarisi Vunidilo is a Fijian-New Zealand archaeologist and curator who specialises in indigenous museum and heritage management. Born in Suva, Fiji she has taught at universities in New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaii. She is currently an assistant professor at California State University, Los Angeles, and hosts the Talanoa with Dr T society and culture website.  

Publication Date: 10 October 2024 |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004240-9 |  RRP $29.99

Paperback, 230 x 170 mm portrait, 48 pages, colour

From bird to New Zealanders to Chinese gooseberries — new book tracks the worldwide flight of 'Kiwi'

Kiwi: A Curious Case of National Identity
Richard Wolfe

How did the Māori name for a flightless bird come to mean a New Zealander and a fruit that originated in China, while morphing into the badge for the national rugby league team and the air force? Not to mention becoming the brand name for everything from rabbit traps to a bank, and a term for pilots who are no longer flying? 

Kiwi: A Curious Case of National Identity tracks this unlikely evolution. Diving into the natural history of this unique bird and its significance to Māori, the story spreads its wings to relate how ‘kiwi’ came to symbolise the emerging nation during the First World War – thanks in part to a brand of boot polish originating in Australia. 

 

By the mid-twentieth century, while the bird population steadily declined, ‘kiwi’ was propagating everywhere from the Golden Kiwi lottery to the new 20-cent coin. 

 

After 1959, with the coining of ‘kiwifruit’ to replace the Chinese gooseberry, the emergence of this export industry has taken the national symbol into a fruit salad of uses worldwide. Along the way there’s been Kiwi the Melbourne Cup-winner, a couple of Kiwi airlines (neither of which flew for long) and TV’s beloved Goodnight Kiwi.

 

Richard Wolfe’s decades of Kiwiana collecting furnish the book with an array of colour photos, art and ephemera, making this a visually stimulating work for Kiwis and kiwi fans of all feathers. 

 

The Author

Richard Wolfe is a cultural historian and curator who has written or co-authored over 40 books on themes from the moa to New Zealand art, including Footprints on the Land: How Humans Changed New Zealand (Oratia Books, 2022), 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: 10 October 2024 |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004264-5 |  RRP $45

Paperback, 250 x 185 mm portrait, 208 pages, colour

New Tim Tipene picture book retells Rātā and the tree pūrakau in a modern suburb

The Ever-Standing Tree
Te Rākau Tū Tonu

Tim Tipene
Illustrated by Ani Huia Ligaliga
Translated by Kanapu Rangitauira

Modern retelling of a classic story comes to life in picture book about learning respect for nature 

A modern interpretation of the classic pūrākau of Rātā and the tree, Tim Tipene’s The Ever-Standing Tree/Te Rākau Tū Tonu highlights the importance of respecting and protecting nature.

In a typical Kiwi suburb, Dad cuts down the tree in the backyard – to get a better view. Overnight, the insects and birds work their magic and put it back together, leaving the family stunned.

A battle of wills between the blade and nature ensues, until Dad finally comes to realise how special the tree is.

Drawing on Tim’s love of traditional Māori stories, The Ever-Standing Tree/Te Rākau Tū Tonu follows on from his award-winning picture books Māui – Sun Catcher and Rona Moon/Ko Rona Māhina, both legends brought to 21^st-century Aotearoa.

Strikingly illustrated by artist Ani Huia Ligaliga and translated by Kanapu Rangitauira, this bilingual picture book will be in bookstores ahead of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2024.

A teacher resource is available on the Oratia Books website. 

The authors

Tim Tipene (Ngāti Kurī, Te Uri-o-Hau, Ngāti Whātua) is a pioneering youth counsellor and an award-winning author of children’s books, including Kura Toa Warrior School and Rona Moon. His Te Pukapuka ka Kore e Pānuihia was shortlisted for this year's New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Tim lives in Rānui, West Auckland. 

Ani Huia Ligaliga (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tamanuhiri, Ngāti Rongomaiwahine) is an artist and illustrator. She studied art at Brigham Young University, Hawaii. Ani lives in Hamilton. 

Kanapu Rangitauira (Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou, Te Whakatōhea) is a registered translator and teacher of te reo. Among other translations Kanapu has completed for Tim's books is Te Pukapuka ka Kore e Pānuihia. He lives in Rotoiti, Rotorua. 

Publication: 2 September 2024 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004260-7 | RRP $22.99

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