Major international recognition announced for Māori children’s authors and illustrators

IBBY-UNESCO collection honours bilingual picture books written in te reo Māori and published by Oratia Books

Two picture books written in te reo Māori have been honoured by inclusion in the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages. 

Rere Atu Taku Poi!/Let My Poi Fly! and Tōku Whānau Rerehua/My Beautiful Family, both published by Oratia Books, were selected from a worldwide field of titles in indigenous and endangered languages.

 

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) joined with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to create this collection, which was revealed overnight at the IBBY World Congress in Ottawa, Canada. 

 

Rere Atu Taku Poi! , written by Tāmaki-Makaurau author and academic Tangaroa Paul and illustrated by Ōtautahi artist Rebecca Gibbs, tells of a boy named Rangi who dreams of joining the girls in the poi section of his school’s kapa haka performance. Co-published with Auckland Council Libraries, Rere Atu Taku Poi! has been made into a stage play by Taki Rua Productions, and received a 2024 Storylines Notable Book Award.

From Rere Atu Taku Poi!/Let My Poi Fly!

Tōku Whānau Rerehua, by Waikato-based teacher Rauhina Cooper with illustrations by award-winning Wellington artist Isobel Te Aho-White, relates how young Huia overcomes her shyness about having two mums when she has to present at the school’s family day. 

From Tōku Whānau Rerehua/My Beautiful Family

‘We are delighted by the honour for these books, which promote indigenous languages as well as values of diversity and inclusion,’ commented Carolyn Lagahetau, Oratia Books’ editorial director. 

 

‘Ngā mihi nunui ki a Tangaroa, Rebecca, Rauhina rātou ko Isobel.’

About the honoured authors and illustrators

Tangaroa Paul (Te Whare Tawhito o Muriwhenua), a poi exponent who identifies as gender fluid, is the associate dean academic and a senior lecturer in Te Ara Poutama at Auckland University of Technology, His children’s books draw on Tangaroa’s journey performing poi, celebrating diverse expressions of Māori identity.

Rebecca Gibbs (Rongowhakaata) has been a primary school teacher and gained a Bachelor of Design (VisCom) in 2015, since when she has worked in illustration and publishing. She lives in Diamond Harbour, near Ōtautahi/Christchurch.

Rauhina Cooper (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu) is a teacher and facilitator in kura supporting teachers in te reo Māori. She is passionate about the survival and use of te reo Māori. Rauhina lives in Ōhaupō. She was inspired to write Tōku Whānau Rerehua/My Beautiful Family, her first book, by her own ‘blended’ whānau. 

Isobel Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu, UK, Denmark) has won numerous awards for her illustration of children’s books, and authored her own first book in 2025. In October Oratia will publish her stunning illustrations in the picture book Mauri by Merryn Jones. Isobel lives in Te Whanganui-a Tara/Wellington.

About Oratia Books

Based in Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa in West Auckland, Oratia Books is an independent publisher that produces around 15 new books a year, with a focus on children’s, Māori and general non-fiction titles. Oratia’s publishing has a multicultural, multilingual and inclusive outlook, with a growing number of children’s books bilingual in Māori and other Pacific languages.

About the IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages

This joint initiative of IBBY and UNESCO highlights books for children and young people published between 2018 and 2025 in an indigenous or endangered language, that present high standards of text and/or illustration, and that relate to the Global Action Plan of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. 

Rere Atu Taku Poi!  |  ISBN: 9781990042486  |  Tōku Whānau Rerehua  |  ISBN: 9781990042386

Both books are aperback, 270 x 210 mm, 32 pages, colour |  RRP $22.99

Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna wins te Reo category at NZSA Heritage Book Awards

Ngā mihi nunui ki a te kaituhi Darryn Joseph rāua ko te kaiwhakaahua Munro Te Whata, kua toa kōrua i ngā NZSA Heritage Book Awards mo te pukapuka tamariki pai ake i te Reo, i panuihia i te pō o Rāpare kei Ōtautahi.

Hearty congratulations to author Darryn Joseph and illustrator Munro Te Whata, whose book Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna/Listen to your Ancestors won the best children's book in Te Reo at the NZSA Heritage Book Awards, announced on Thursday at a ceremony in Christchurch. 

Darryn, who is a lecturer in Māori at Massey University, Palmerston North, wrote this moving story in te Reo and then translated it into English, and Auckland-based illustrator and animator Munro brought it to life in images. 

We salute Darryn and Munro for their achievement, and also acknowledge the fine work of editorial director Carolyn Lagahetau and designer Cheryl Smith in creating a book that has touched many readers young and old. 

The story follows a beloved teacher giving her pupils and grand-daughter guidance by directing them to follow the examples of Māori gods and ancestors.

Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna teaches the values represented by Māori gods and ancestors, and provides a much-needed tool for reading in te Reo. But at its heart this is a story of love and respect, harking back to the friendship that inspired its writing. 

Darryn Joseph

Munro Te Whata (left) with the book's editor, Carolyn Lagahetau

Publication: 10 September 2019  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-62-9 |  RRP $25.99

Paperback, 270 x 21o mm, 32 pages colour

Ngā Kupu Ora honours Pā Henare Tate

Thank you to Massey University for hosting a memorable ceremony last Thursday to celebrate the winners of the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Awards.

An audience of over 180 people attended the evening in Te Raukura Wharewaka on Wellington’s waterfront, honouring five authors in the categories of biography, fiction, non-fiction, Māori language and the special award.

I was proud to be there as part of the group to tautoko Pā Henare Tate, who accepted the Non-Fiction/Te Kōrero Pono awards for his He Puna Iti i te Ao Mārama: A Little Spring in the World of Light.

The judges described Pā’s work as “a compelling and passionate description of the role that tikanga and kaupapa play in the construction of a Māori Christian theological framework.”

Other winners included esteemed fiction writer Witi Ihimaera for White Lies, and Bradford Haami for his work Ka Mau te Wehi.

Massey has taken an important initiative with these awards, now in their fifth year, and which aim to foster Māori literary excellence, authorship and scholarship.

Pā Henare Tate with supporters; Sister Magdalen Sheahan (centre) was a key editor on the book. 

Staff members of Massey University/Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa in full flight 

Pā Henare Tate receives Māori Book Award

With great pleasure we can announce that Pā Henare Tate’s He Puna Iti i te Ao Mārama, published by Libro International last November, has won the Te Kōrero Pono/Non-fiction category in the Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Awards.

The awards, administered by Massey University, will be granted in a ceremony at Te Wharewaka o Poneke function centre in Wellington on 7 November.

Identified in five categories – biography, fiction, non-fiction, te reo Māori and a special award – the winners were selected from books published between August 2012 and July this year.

Chair of the three-member judging panel and Massey University senior lecturer, Dr Spencer Lilley said the awards are held to address the dearth of Māori literature for adults.

“The awards were created as a result of other major book awards consistently failing to acknowledge Māori authors. The Awards also foster Māori literary excellence, authorship and scholarship in te reo Māori,” he said.

Pā Henare’s work, which is subtitled A Little Spring in the World of Light, was described by the judges as a compelling description of the role that Māori tikanga (protocols) and kaupapa (methodologies) play in the construction of a Māori Christian theological framework.

“This scholarly text joins other seminal works on tikanga Māori by Barlow (Tikanga Whakaaro: key concepts in tikanga Māori) and Mead (Tikanga Māori: living by Māori values),” the judges said.

Our hearty congratulations to Pā Henare for this much deserved recognition.

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/maori/maori_book_awards/2013-awards/2013-awards_home.cfm

Pā Henare Tate (Ngāti Manawa, Te Rarawa) was formerly a lecturer at the Auckland Catholic Institute of Theology, and the University of Auckland School of Theology. A recognised specialist in Māori spirituality, he now lives lives in Motuti, in northern Hokianga.  

He Puna Iti i Te Ao Mārama: A Little Spring in the World of Light

Pā Henare Tate

978-1-877514-54-8

240 x 160 mm portrait, PB, 320 pp

$75 

Trudy Meredith’s award acceptance speech for Wiremu Pere

The 2011 Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards were held on 29 November at Massey University in Palmerston North (Te Papa-i-oea). Trudy Meredith accepted the 2011 Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Award for Wiremu Pere, winner of the Te Hauronga/Biography Category, on behalf of publishing partners the Wi Pere Trust and Libro International.

E Papatuanuku tena koe

E whare wanaaga o Te Kunenga Ki Purehuroa, tena koe

E te Atua kaha rawa, whakawhetai ana

E nga Hunga mate, Haere Haere ki hawaikinui, hawaikiroa, Hawaiki pamamao

E nga Hunga ora Tena Koutou

Me nga Rangatira katoa e te paepae o tenei whare wanaanga nga tumuaki Nga Kupu Ora Book Awards 2011

Me nga rangatira katoa, iwi ma Tena Koutou , Tena Koutou, tena koutou katoa.

Hui e Haumi e Taiki e

Ka moe a Wi Pere a Arapera Tautuhi o te Rangi

Ka puta mai a Hetekia Te Kani

Ka moe a Hetekia Te Kani a Rangikohera Ranginui

Ka puta mai a Rongowhakaata Halbert

Ka moe a Rongowhakaata Halbert a Patehepa Tamatea

Ka puta moe a Hineikoia Riripeti Halbert

Ko Taku mama

Ko Trudy Meredith Taku ingoa

It is with humility that I accept this award on behalf of my brother Joe, who is unable to be here at this time, Hani Smiler, Hineiromia Whaanga, Wi Pere Trust who financed this book, Alan Haronga , our chairman of Wi Pere Trust for seeing the book to completion, Peter Dowling and Libro International, our publishers.

This book is but one of many that our people have wished to bring into the world of light and I pay tribute to those many others who have gone before me in particular Rongowhakaata Halbert and his daughter Nona Haronga who first compiled HOROUTA which was published by Reed in 1999.

This book WIREMU PERE has been a long time in the making but everything has its time and it was appropriate that it was finished in 2010.

Brother Joe was procrastinating for a topic for his thesis and his tutor recommended he write about his Tipuna and his role in history, particularly in the political arena. This began a lifelong search for material, the oral histories from our aunties and uncles who have since passed on, and the various institutes which housed documents pertaining to aspects of Wi Pere’s life.

In 2008, for the next 18 months, my husband found me reading material and at my computer nightly after our daily work was completed. Late nights or early mornings were the order of the day.

Tears came to my eyes many times and my heart ached when I read of the unfair obstacles placed in my Tipunas path. One has to really imagine being born in 1837, so few tauiwi in Turanganuiakiwa but many in parliament, the Maori wars with European and Maori, famines, floods and droughts, measles and yet this tipuna of ours was able to rise from there to enter Parliament to fight for his people, and the people of Te Tairawhiti not just his immediate whanau.

To truly know a man you need to hear or read his actual words and yes they were outrageous, wicked and humorous. After reading his many speeches I came to know him and feel him. I remember asking my mother Hineikoia many questions about Wi Pere, and her stories were always told with love, admiration and a wicked smile. She would have treasured this book but unfortunately passed away in 1969.

I felt his frustration and indignation when anomalies were present, one rule for Europeans and one rule for Maori, like the ridiculous law - in order to vote a Maori had to be landless. However, we have moved on since then and we as Maori have more opportunites today. The book is not an in depth investigation into all of Wi Peres life because it would have made the book too long and very expensive to produce.

I admired his tenacity, his outstanding mastery of oratory, a delicious speaker according to one of his listeners….his ability to see and make new pathways which would benefit his people , the tribes of Te Tairawhiti and his constituents.

I understand how Wi Pere must have felt as in my life I have been in places where there were few Maoris and solutions to problems were often innovative but were welcomed in this century yet denied in his time.

I remember 25 years ago being confronted by a relative from another branch of my family who denigrated my Tipuna and my head was bowed. I vowed there and then that I would find all the answers, and, thanks to computers and the resources available today I have found the truth and this knowledge is empowerment. The truth set me free of those feelings of sadness.

However, on his feelings of suffragettes, its just as well we are in different centuries as I would have enjoyed having heated debates on this topic.

Funnily two of his granddaughtersTeria and Mana were powerful speakers on the paepae.

Today we, the trustees of the Wi Pere Trust, like our Tipuna, are always looking for new pathways to benefit the Wi Pere descendants who roughly number about 5000. And like him we too experience a resistance of business institutions to look at constructive changes because they are new and control will be lost by those institutions. We are lucky to have some fine young people highly qualified and experienced to govern our trust.

It was because of Wi Peres foresight that we have our incredible taonga the Wi Pere Trust, which was set up by him by an act of parliament in 1899 and from which our entire family have benefited. He was also responsible for the building of Rongopai, which many of you may have already visited.

We are fortunate that education was always of paramount importance and in our parents eyes nothing was impossible if we applied ourselves to the task and always remembered our tipunas.

We the young people and not so young descendants can follow his example and challenge ourselves

to excel not just for our personal benefit but for the benefit of our whanau, extended families and communities.

I believe that after being involved in this book that

Wi Pere made a difference to many people in Aotearoa.

It is all too easy to criticize a man or woman after they have passed on and it is right that we should only remember the good, It is in the hands of God to judge the not so good, not ours.

Once again I thank you for this award on behalf of my brother Joe and everyone involved with seeing this book finally published.

Riria Mauaranui and the other tohunga of the whare wanaanga groomed and prepared him for his role, recognising his abilities whilst in childhood.

As mothers today, we too are responsible for the preparation of our children and grandchildren for their journeys into life.

People, whanau, mokopuna were his focus which leads me to my waiata.

Hutia te Rito

Hutia te Rito o te Harakeke

Kei whea to komako e ko

Ki mai ki ahau

He aha te mea nui

He aha te mea nui o te ao

Maku e ki atu

He tangata, He tangata, he tangata Hei

Kia ora Tatou, tatou katoa.

Related articles: 

Massey University: Ngā Kupu Ora Awards Celebrate Māori Publishing Milestones

Ngā Kupu Ora Maori Book Awards Appendix: additional information on winning books and authors

Wiremu Pere wins Ngā Kupu Ora award

We are honoured to announce that Libro International's 2010 publication Wiremu Pere has won the biography section of Ngā Kupu Ora 2011, the third Māori Book Awards.

Our heartfelt congratulations to Joseph Pere, the book's author, and Alan Haronga, who brought the book to completion through the Wi Pere Trust. 

Wiremu Pere: The Life and Times of a Maori Leader, 1837–1915 is the first biography of this seminal East Coast  figure.

The judging panel described this book as an “outstanding biography” that was long overdue because Wiremu Pere’s contribution to politics is “often overlooked due to the high profile of other Māori politicians of the time”, including Apirana Ngata.

Commenting on the 2011 winners, the judges commended their contribution to Māori knowledge. “In addition to excellent content and production, each of the winning books advanced our knowledge and understanding in new and different ways,” they said. 

The Ngā Kupu Ora Māori Book Awards were established in 2009 by Massey University to mark Māori Language Week and to celebrate and encourage excellence in Māori publishing. 

This year's awards will be presented on 29 November at a ceremony at Te Pūtahi-a-toi, Massey University’s School of Māori Studies, in Palmerston North.