Book giveaway: Food Atlas (2018)

Our final giveaway to celebrate 10 years of publishing is the colourful, visually stunning Food Atlas.

Food Atlas guides young readers and adults on a gastronomic world tour, with a smattering of cultural and geographical information thrown in. Gorgeous maps by renowned illustrator Febe Sillani detail the typical foods of the world, one country at a time. 

First published in 2017 by Dalcò Edizioni of Parma, Italy, this large hardback quickly became an international hit, translated into 18 languages and selling over 150,000 copies worldwide. 

It includes pages on Australia, New Zealand, but was not available here until Oratia published it with some local variations in October 2018.

Anzac biscuits, beech honey, Bluff oysters and boil-ups are the first of the foods on the New Zealand map, while the Australia spread covers a wide range of foods, wines, flora and fauna. Click here to find out more.

Readers of all ages Down Under can savour the tastes of the world through Food Atlas: from avocados to sausage rolls and baklava to pineapple lumps. 

Visit our Fb Page to be in to win a copy of Food Atlas. Prize available to New Zealand residents only. 

Competition closes on Tuesday 6 August, and winner announced on Wednesday 7 August.

Book giveaway: I Need a New Bum! and other stories (2017)

Of all the Oratia Books, Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird’s I Need a New Bum! is the one that needs the least introduction.

Since its publication in 2012, it has become a runaway bestseller not only in New Zealand but in Australia, China, the US and (following its publication there in December last year) the UK. 

In 2017, responding to ongoing demand for this hilarious picture book, we took the chance of binding it up with two previous collaborations into I Need a New Bum! and other stories.

From Doggy Doo on my Shoe

Both Seagull Sid and the naughty things his seagulls did and Doggy Doo on my Shoe share the mischievous tone of New Bum, matching Dawn’s rollicking rhymes with Ross’ zany drawings in one fun volume. 

The title page of Seagull Sid

Great as a read-aloud or read-alone book, I Need a New Bum! and other stories is itself a firm favourite with kids and adults now. 

Our partners at Dover Publications in New York picked up on it by issuing an American version of Seagull Sid this May. Click here to see more.

And there's more: I've Broken my Bum!, a sequel to I Need a New Bum!, will be arriving at selected bookstores in New Zealand this September, with the US edition I Broke my Butt! out soon after.

Visit our Fb Page to be in to win a copy of  I Need a New Bum! and other stories. Prize available to New Zealand and Australian residents only. 

Competition closes on Tuesday 30 July, and winner announced on Wednesday 31 July.

Book giveaway: The Tunnel in our Backyard (2016)

There have been many book launches during Oratia’s 10 years of publishing but to date only one has taken place underground. 

On a crisp night in June 2016, suitably attired guests joined author Malcolm Paterson and illustrator Hana Maihi to launch The Tunnel in our Backyardin a subterranean lava tunnel in the Auckland suburb of Mount Eden. 

Malcolm (second from left) and Hana (centre) with supporters at the launch

The book was the second in the Sharing our Stories series, which Malcolm and a group of emerging Auckland leaders initiated with the 2010 picture book The Castle in our Backyard to connect young readers with the heritage around them. 

The Tunnel in our Backyard follows two young cousins, Jennifer and Tui, as they discover the history around them with their whānau, and trace the footsteps of Māori and European ancestors (including the lava tunnels around Mount Albert). 

Malcolm, who belongs to Ngāti Whātua of Auckland and the Kaipara, authored a third in the series with The Taniwha in our Backyard (2018), which is based in the Kaipara region. 

He will be appearing at the Going West Writers Festival on Sunday 8 September. 

Visit our Fb Page to be in to win a copy of  The Tunnel in our Backyard. Prize available to New Zealand residents only. 

Competition closes on Tuesday 22 July, and winner announced on Wednesday 23 July.

Sir Bob Harvey charms Northern Club regulars with tales of the Waitematā’s chequered history

 

The Northern Club is not the regular stomping ground of former Labour Party president and former Waitakere City mayor Sir Bob Harvey, but he received a very warm reception from Club regulars this week at his captivating presentation on the background to his latest book, Sea Edge: Where the Waitematā Meets Auckland, published by Oratia.

The spectacular Wintergarden room with its dramatic chandeliers and sweeping views of the inner metropolis provided the perfect setting for the launch of a book that celebrates all that is great about Sir Bob’s beloved harbour city. 

Drawing on years of research, fascinating stories and a rich selection of images of the past and present, Auckland’s Champion shared his deep knowledge of the transformation of the waterfront across history with an audience that also included old friends from his Karekare Surf Lifesaving and advertising agency days, as well as past civic colleagues. 

Sea Edge's designer Cheryl Smith (left) and editor Carolyn Lagahetau (right) with Sir Bob

Carolyn and Cheryl with Oratia's sales and marketing consultant Belinda Cooke at The Northern Club

Bob ended the convivial evening by signing copies of Sea Edge, on sale thanks to John Graham, owner of several Paper Plus stores in Auckland, who was instrumental in organising the event. 

Sea Edge  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-48-3|  RRP $75

Jacketed hardback, 300 x 300 mm, 260 pages colour

Book giveaway: Te Toi Whakairo – The Art of Maori Carving (2015)

Sir Sidney (Hirini) Moko Mead is one of the truly distinguished authors that we’ve had the privilege of working with over the ten years of Oratia Books. 

Over his long career he has been an innovator and leader across a range of academic and artistic fields, notably for his iwi of Ngāti Awa, for which he has received numerous honours including his knighthood. 

Hirini Moko Mead

From the 1950s on, Tā Hirini wrote pioneering works on Māori art forms of which he was himself an enthusiastic practitioner. Te Toi Whakairo: The Art of Maori Carving, which Oratia published in 2015, had been through various incarnations since its first publication in 1961 by A.H. & A.W. Reed “as a very humble little book”, as Hirini writes in the 2015 preface. The current edition is a comprehensively illustrated work of 276 pages.

Detailing the evolution of styles in history through to present-day forms, Te Toi Whakairo is a standard reference work for carvers as well as all those who appreciate Māori carving, and Oratia is committed to keeping it in print. Click here for more information.

Next month will see new life given to another of Hirini’s standard works on Māori art, with the publication on 15 August of Te Whatu Tāniko — Tāniko Weaving: Technique and Tradition, in a fully redesigned and expanded edition

Te Whatu Tāniko will be published in August

Visit our Fb Page  to be in to win a copy of Te Toi Whakairo: The Art of Maori Carving. Prize available to New Zealand residents only. 

Competition closes on Monday 15 July, and winner announced on Tuesday 16 July.

First two books announce the arrival of non-fiction series for young adults

Volcanoes and Earthquakes– Gordon Ell and Sarah Ell

Pioneer Women– edited by Sarah Ell

Recognising the need among readers from intermediate school up for attractive non-fiction books relating to their own experience, Oratia Books is today publishing the first of The NZ Series — a snappily designed and fact-packed collection on New Zealand society, history and geography.

The first two books in the series respectively plumb the mysteries of New Zealand’s earth movements and relate the history of early European settlers with easy-to-understand text accompanied by numerous photos, explanatory diagrams and ‘Fact File’ boxes. 

Volcanoes and Earthquakes investigates the causes and history of seismic activity in Aotearoa, taking in the Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes and recent volcanic activity. Historical and contemporary photos and colour diagrams bring the whole field to life!

Pioneer Women presents extracts from diaries and letters by women who emigrated to New Zealand from Europe in the nineteenth century. These tales of hardship and happiness are accompanied by portraits , newspaper clippings, and markers like the Women’s Suffrage Petition.

With two books a year planned for 2020 and beyond, The NZ Series promises readers a broad range of rich, visually stimulating introductions to what makes New Zealand unique.  

The authors

Gordon Ell is a writer and publisher with a life-long interest in our natural and human heritage. He has written more than 30 books for adults and children. His daughter, Sarah Ell, is an editor, and journalist, who has written ten books, and inherited her father’s love of New Zealand history and the environment.

Publication: 9 July 2019  |  RRP $29.99 each

ISBNs: Pioneer Women 978-0-947506-59-9  | Volcanoes and Earthquakes 978-0-947506-60-5

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm, 100 pages colour

Book giveaway: Gallipoli (2014)

First published in 1984, Christopher Pugsley’s debut book brilliantly captured New Zealand’s involvement in the 1915 campaign to wrest the Dardanelles from Turkish control. Established as the definitive history of this critical episode in the First World War, it went through three further editions before going out of print.

The impending anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign and the availability of new information and photos made a fifth edition a must. For Oratia, Christopher fully revised the text and brought in new content linked to his work as historical director on the seminal  Gallipoli: The Scale of our War at Te Papa, Wellington.

Published in October 2014 in a co-edition with leading British military publisher Pen & Sword, Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story was enthusiastically received by readers worldwide. It has since reprinted several times.

What sets this history apart is Chris’ ability to tell the story through the eyes of those who were there, drawing not only on letters and diaries but also his experience as a career soldier. It’s a remarkable balance of practical and scholarly history that he has carried on in further books for Oratia, most recently last year’s Le Quesnoy 1918.

Visit our Fb Page  to be in to win a copy of Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story! Prize available to New Zealand residents only. 

Competition closes on Monday 8 July, and winner announced on Tuesday 9 July.