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

Inflation busters: Māui — Sun Catcher and Rona Moon return in more affordable paperbacks

Māui – Sun Catcher / Māui – Te Kaihao i te Rā 

Tim Tipene

Illustrated by Zak Waipara

Translated by Rob Ruha

Rona Moon / Ko Rona Māhina

Tim Tipene

Illustrated by Theresa Reihana

Translated by Stephanie Huriana Fong

 

Paperback editions of Tim Tipene's retelling of two traditional stories are now in print, offering these fully bilingual English and Te Reo editions in a more affordable format. 

The paperback editions are priced at $22.99, a 12% reduction from the previous hardback books. 

Māui — Sun Catcher/Te Kaihao i te Rā sets the famous story of Māui catching the sun in a modern city. Māui is a schoolboy who lives with this mother and four older brothers in a city where the day is never long enough to things done. 

Māui (who speaks in rhyme) seizes the moment:

Mum, I’m gonna catch that Sun for you.

That Sun who’s always on the run. 

Te Rā ka hopukina mōhau, e māmā.

Te Rā, ka hohoro te kakama.

After weaving a flax net, the brothers drive to the pit where the Sun lives, and make their play to slow the day. 

Award-winning author Tim Tipene weaves a spell-binding modern tale, accompanied by manga-influenced illustrations by esteemed artist Zak Waipara, with te reo Māori translation by musical star Rob Ruha.

Rona Moon/Ko Rona Māhina stars Rona as a young girl who gets angry with everyone — her brother, her Nana and Papa — until one night she calls the moon stupid!

Taken to meet her ancestor Whaea Rona on the moon, she learns a lesson in how to control her temper:

‘Everything looks so small from up here,’ said Rona. 

‘I know,’ Whaea beamed. ‘Even the reasons we felt angry seem so little.’

 

‘Hanga nohinohi te ao katoa atu i konei,’ tā Rona. 

‘E mea ana koe,’ te mene atu a Whaea. ‘Kua hanga nohinohi hoki ngā take i pupū ai ō tāua riri.’

Tai Tokerau artist Theresa Reihana created special illustrators, using photo collage approach, and Stephanie Huriana Fong (familiar to viewers of Whakaata Māori) provided a superb translation. 

 

These books are a great read for primary school readers, students of te Reo and anyone who loves traditional stories, myths and retellings. 

 

The authors

Tim Tipene (Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Whātua) is the award-winning author of over 12 children’s books, and a pioneering youth counsellor. He lives with his family in Rānui, West Auckland. 

Zak Waipara (Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Ruapani) is a renowned illustrator and writer of books, comics and animations. He is a lecturer in digital media at the Auckland University of Technology.  

Theresa Reihana (Ngāti Hine) is a visual artist who has exhibited worldwide, and is now venturing into book illustration; she lives near Kaitaia. 

Translators

Rob Ruha (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou) is a chart-topping musician, songwriter and champion of te reo Māori who is based in Rotorua. 

Stephanie Huriana Fong (Te Rarawa) is a registered translator of te Reo who also works in television and other media; she lives in Te Atatū, Auckland

Publication: 17 November 2022  |  RRP $22.99 |

ISBN: (Māui) 978-1-99-004232-4  (Rona) 978-1-99-004233-1

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

 

Kia Hou Taku Tou! – kua reo Māori a I Need a New Bum!

Kia Hou Taku Tou/I Need a New Bum!

Translated by Stephanie Huriana Fong

Written by Dawn McMillan

Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

Te reo Māori edition out tomorrow marks tenth-anniversary of global bestseller I Need a New Bum!

It was hearing her own tamariki plead to have Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird’s books in te reo that motivated translator Stephanie Huriana Fong to get to work on the bestselling I Need a New Bum!.

Her sparkling, rhyming Māori version of the text arrives with perfect timing in September — ready for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2022, and also marking ten years since the book first hit the shelves. 

 

All of the colourful and active main text is in te reo, following our hero as he searches for a tou hou/new bum, after finding that his one has a crack. 

Kia hou taku tou! Ko tōku, kua tawhā. 

Ki te whakaata kitea ai te tāwha i muri nā.

 

‘Subtitles’ in English run at the bottom of the page to help readers of all ages to understand and learn.

Stephanie’s gorgeous rhyming reo is available at good booksellers nationwide from 1 September.

Kia Hou Taku Tou! ‘brings the New Bum home’ almost exactly 10 years after it was published on 20 September 2012. 

It marks the latest in a string of language versions — the boy with the cracked behind has delighted readers in American English, Chinese, Italian, Korean and Portuguese, with further editions under development in Spanish and Turkish. 

The translator

Stephanie Huriana Fong (Te Rarawa) is a registered translator of te reo Māori who also appears on Māori Television and in other media. She has translated several other books, including Rona Moon (Oratia Books, 2020). Stephanie lives with her whānau in Te Atatū, Auckland.

The authors

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of numerous children’s books including I Need a New Bum! , Doctor Grundy’s Undies and the 2020 release Sir Singlet. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. Ross Kinnaird is a legendary illustrator and designer whose books have been published around the world, many of them in collaboration with Dawn. He lives close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore. 

Publication: 1 September 2022  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004224-9 | RRP $19.99

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