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

Correcting common errors in te reo Māori for all levels of students and speakers

Ngā Hapa Reo: Common Māori Language Errors
Hona Black and Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell

Bilingual addition to Oratia’s te reo reference series explains and corrects common errors in Māori

Māori language teachers and consultants Hona Black and Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell hear a lot of common errors in te reo, not only in the courses they teach but also among fluent speakers. 

That motivated the pair to write Ngā Hapa Reo, making readers aware of common Māori language errors and how to right them, so that the reo can flourish in the future.

 

From choosing between awhi and āwhina, to the importance of tohutō (macrons), to whether to address a friend as ‘Hēmi’ or ‘e Hēmi’ — the new book deals with word choice, grammar, interference from English and more. It profiles more than 150 common errors, with explanations about how to correct them.

Chapter openings are in Māori on left-hand pages and English on the right, while examples are profiled on one page, making this bilingual book accessible to readers of all levels of fluency.

 

Ngā Hapa Reo adds to Oratia's language reference series, which includes Hona's books He Iti te Kupu: Māori Metaphors and Similes and Te Reo Kapekape: Māori Wit and Humour.

Published in time for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, this new work fills a gap in the market for language resources. 

The authors

Hona Black (Tūhoe, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) lectures on teaching for Māori medium schools at Massey University, Palmerston North. This is his third book about te reo Māori. Hona lives in Porirua with his partner and their son. 

Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Apa) is a Māori language and education consultant for Haemata Limited. He has a keen interest in governance and holds several directorships. Te Aorangi lives in Whakatāne with his family.

Publication: 2 September 2024 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004259-1 | RRP $39.99

Paperback, 210 x 148 mm portrait, 196 pages, b&w

Homegrown graphic novel takes the Duffy Books in Homes message to young readers

Duffy and the Bullies
Jeff Szusterman
Illustrated by Ant Sang

Every year the Duffy Books in Homes theatre group visits hundreds of Kiwi schools, sharing the messages It’s Cool to Read and Cool to Achieve while building a keen following for the show’s hero, Duffy. 

It's part of the outstanding work Duffy Books in Homes has done for 30 years to connect children with books.  

Now one of those plays comes to the world in a graphic novel, the trendy reading format for children and teenagers worldwide.

Actor and director Jeff Szusterman reworked Lauren Jackson’s  Duffy and the Cloakroom Bully play into a story told in speech bubbles with graphics created by legendary cartoonist Ant Sang. 

There’s bullying at school, where the jealous and troubled Ashlee is picking on the lonely, luckless 11-year-old Marama. Into the fray steps Duffy, the cool Māori kid who’s captain of the school rugby team, as well as a keen reader.

By sharing wisdom from his book of the moment, The Hallowe’en Hassler (which features in Ant’s designs) — and encouraging Marama’s talents on the rugby field — Duffy helps to create an unlikely friendship between Marama and Ashlee.

Duffy and the Bullies hits the bookshelves early in school term 3, coinciding with the 30^th anniversary of Duffy Books in Homes.

The authors

Jeff Szusterman is an actor, director and teacher. For the past decade he has developed and directed theatre shows for Duffy Books in Homes. This is his first book. Jeff lives with his family in Waitakere, Auckland. 

Ant Sang is a cartoonist based in Auckland, who has authored award-winning graphic novels that have published internationally. He also works  in film, TV and theatre, and was lead designer on the TV show bro’Town. 

Lauren Jackson is a playwright, filmmaker, drama tutor and actor who has written many plays for Duffy Books in homes. This book is based on her play Duffy and the Cloak Bay Bully.

Publication: 6 August 2024 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004256-0 | RRP $25.99

Paperback, 229 x 160 mm portrait, 88 pages, colour

From Hawai'i to Aotearoa, new book shares the joy of Pacific toes in English and Samoan

Island Toes
Tamatama'i Vae o Motu

Christin Lozano
Illustrated by Mariko Merritt
Translated by Suzie-Jo Rasmussen

Toes are toes wherever you go, but toes around the Pacific Islands have even more things in common. 

 

They may be flipper toes or jandal toes, clean toes or highchair toes, snorkel toes or swimming underway toes — all around the Pacific, you know that you have island toes. 

This colourfully illustrated book takes young readers on a journey around the South Pacific — no shoes needed! 

First published in Hawai’i by Bess Press, Island Toes now reaches the South Pacific in Samoan as well as New Zealand English. 

Auckland teacher Suzie-Jo Rasmussen completed the Samoan translation for this, the newest addition to Oratia’s Moana Oceania series of books about the Pacific. 

And in honour of its US origins, the book is publishing on 4 July.

The authors

Christin Lozano began her career as a teacher and then became a children’s librarian. Having read hundreds of stories about kids in other places themes, she decided to write her own story for Pacific children.  A long-term resident of Hawai’i, Christin now lives in San Diego.

Mariko Merritt is a Hawaiian artist, book illustrator and graphic designer. Mariko works in a Honolulu bookshop, while making art, ceramics and picture books.

Suzie-Jo Rasmussen is an ESOL/bilingual specialist teacher. A resident of Oratia, Auckland, Suzie has been translating books and creating Samoan resources for children in bilingual education for more than 20 years. 

Publication: 4 July 2024 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004245-4 | RRP $21.00

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