Second in Tangaroa Paul's picture-book series takes flight to Polynesia

Rere Atu ki Poronihia
Flight to Polynesia

Tangaroa Paul 
Illustrated by Luca Tu'avao Walton

We're delighted to share this new picture book that explores Pacific identity through its young hero’s trip to festival in Hawai’i

Tangaroa Paul’s first book Rere Atu Taku Poi! / Let My Poi Fly! has been a big hit, with a reprint, audiobook version and a stage adaptation springing from the picture book that published in early 2023.

In fact, Taki Rua Production's adaptation was named Production of the Year in the 2025 Performing Arts and Young People Awards. 

Now Tangaroa is back with a sequel in which the book's protagonist Rangi and his kapa haka group fly from Aotearoa to Hawai’i for a cultural festival.

While sharing the group’s culture with others from around the Pacific, Rangi makes friends with young people like him from Hawai’i, Sāmoa and Tonga, who combine male and female energy.

And so on with the show! Performances take the stage while in the background, Rangi ponders how Māori define gender and identity.

Written in Māori and English, with vivid illustrations by Tongan-Kiwi artist Luca Tu’avao Walton, Rere Atu ki Poronihia is an uplifting story that shares the cultures of Polynesia to young readers.

It is jointly published by Auckland Council Libraries and Oratia Books, and hits the bookshelves ahead of the Pasifika Festival 2026 in Tāmaki Makaurau, with a free Teacher Resource available online.

The book's ending opens the path to the third book in the series — as we see Rangi on the plane home, reflecting on the friends he made in Hawai'i and what he has learned about gender identities in the Pacific. 

 

I te kōingo ia mēnā rānei he kupu Māori mōna?  

He wondered if there was kupu Māori for him, too?

The authors

Tangaroa Paul (Te Whare Tawhito o Muriwhenua), a poi expert who identifies as gender-fluid, is a lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology, where they completed a doctorate in gender studies in 2023. Their books drawn on Tangaroa’s own experience as the first biological male to compete in the poi section of Te Matatini.

Luca Tu’avao Walton is an artist and animator who spent his early life in Tonga and now lives in Auckland. His art explores themes of femininity and representation in the Pacific context.

Publication: 10 March 2026  |  ISBN: 9781990042973  |  RRP $22.99

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

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

Bilingual picture book tells uplifting story of gender fluidity and the power of poi

Rere Atu Taku Poi!/Let My Poi Fly!

Tangaroa Paul

Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbs

Debut author pens inspiring picture book based on their own journey to performing the poi

Publishing this week as part Pride Month, Rere Atu Taku Poi!/Let My Poi Fly! is the story of a boy who learns that being different takes courage and makes us who we are.

Rangi loves doing haka but performing poi is his favourite — even though his classmates say this artform just for girls. When the lead poi performer falls sick before a school performance, Rangi has to take her place. 

 

How will the other students and audience react – ‘Surely a boy can’t lead the poi?’  As Rangi steps on stage, the familiar movements of poi take him from scared and unsure to standing as his authentic self.

‘As a child I knew I was different, but I struggled to find answers. Kapa haka and poi were the only ways in which I felt the connection between my culture and my self,’ Tangaroa says. 

 

‘This book, and Rangi’s journey of expressing who they are, is all about being bright, brave and
beautiful!’

Written in te reo Māori and English (te reo appears first on the pages), Tangaroa’s story is beautifully illustrated by Rebecca Gibbs. 

Creative New Zealand generously supported publication of the book, which was created in collaboration with Auckland Libraries Ngā Pataka Kōrero o Tamaki Makaurau.

A teacher resource for the book is available on the Oratia website. And scanning the QR code on the back cover takes you to YouTube videos with Tangaroa reading the book in Māori and English, and a poi performance.

To see an interview with Tangaroa, click on this link. 

The authors

Tangaroa Paul (Te Whare Tawhito o Muriwhenua), a poi expert who identifies as gender-fluid, is a lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology, where they have recently submitted a doctoral thesis in gender studies. Rere Atu Taku Poi! is Tangaroa’s first book.

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 Christchurch.

Publication: 8 February 2024 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004248-5 | RRP $22.99

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

New children’s book empowers visually impaired character and celebrates diversity

Lucky Me 

Lawrence Schimel 
Illustrated by Juan Camilo Mayorga 

Publishing for World Sight Day and Blind Low Vision Week, Lucky Me tells the story of a boy who feels very lucky to have a brother like Mateo — who is visually impaired.

Bruno thinks his friend Sanjay is lucky: he has a pet iguana and his own room. Mateo is lucky too: he has a dog who helps him get around and he can read with his fingers in the dark.

Bruno doesn’t have his own room and he doesn’t have a pet. But he soon realises that he’s very lucky too, for his own special reasons.

Lucky Me tells a thoughtful story about the different abilities and strengths that make us unique. 

A disability means that Bruno’s brother does some things differently, but it does not hold him back. On the contrary – he can do amazing things that others can’t!

In the end, Bruno shows we all have something to feel lucky about. 

Written by Lawrence Schimel, the award-winning author of Bedtime, Not Playtime! and Early One Morning, the story is beautifully illustrated by Juan Camilo Mayorga.

Lucky Me was first published by the outstanding independent publisher Rey Naranjo in Colombia. 

Oratia is pleased to publish this English edition in association with Orca Books, Canada, as part of our Five Oceans collection, bringing important international books to Aotearoa.

The author

Lawrence Schimel is an American author and translator who writes in English and Spanish and has published over 120 books in a wide range of genres. He lives in Madrid, Spain, where he founded the Spanish chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers.

The illustrator

Juan Camilo Mayorga is a graphic designer and illustrator with a special interest in children's books. He lives near Bogotá, Colombia, and his works have been published locally and internationally. 

Publication: 12 October 2023 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004250-8 | RRP $25.99

 Hardback, 229 x 229 mm square, 32 pages, colour  

Debut picture book by Waikato author helps kids feel okay about diverse families

Tōku Whānau Rerehua – My Beautiful Family

Rauhina Cooper

Illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White

Publishing in time for the annual Schools Pride Week, Tōku Whānau Rerehua tells of a young girl’s experience learning that all families come in all types, and all can be beautiful. 

 

‘How was school today, Huia,’ her mum asked. ‘It was okay … but our news topic is our family.’

Huia feels too shy to talk to her classmates because she has two mums. What will her friends think? 

 

Over the next days, she learns that some whānau have a step-parent   or one parent, and some children are adopted. So when it’s her turn to show her family photo, she doesn’t have to be shy.

 

“I want to show tamariki that there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ family structure and that whānau is whānau,” first-time author Rauhina Cooper says. 

 

“I’ve not yet seen a picture book that discusses this topic and thought there was a need for respecting our varied and diverse families.”

Written in te reo Māori and translated into English (te reo appears first on the pages), Rauhina’s story is beautifully illustrated by award-winning illustrator Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. 

The author

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 the book by her own ‘blended’ whānau. 

The illustrator 

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Ngāti Kahungunu, Kai Tahu, UK, Denmark) is an  award-winning book illustrator. She is passionate about whānau, whakapapa and tikanga Māori. Izzy lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington. 

Publication: 2 June 2023  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004238-6 | RRP $22.99

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

 

Oratia makes commitment to diversity and inclusion through new policy

Oratia Media is starting off 2021 by making a firm commitment to representing diversity in its publishing, personnel and vision.

That is embodied in this policy statement.

ORATIA MEDIA

Diversity Policy

OUR VISION

To be a diverse and inclusive publisher with no barriers to entry for anyone regardless of their background or identity.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Oratia will respect:

·      the central role of the Treaty of Waitangi, respecting Māori as tangata whenua

·      the role of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa

·      the diverse cultures of Aotearoa New Zealand

·      the principle of equal access and opportunity for people of all cultures, ages, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and religions

This initiative follows our participation in a series of Diversity and Publishing workshops organised by the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) between September and December 2020. 

Diversity specialist Anton Blank of Oranui led those workshops and helped participants to develop policy and tools that will help book publishers to give equal access and value to all sectors of society in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Anton Blank of Oranui, which focuses on generating debate about diversity and giving people skills to deal with a diverse range of population groups

Along with Anton, and Alex Collins and Mish Wickremesekera of Lift Education, Carolyn Lagahetau and Peter Dowling of Oratia sit on PANZ's diversity subcommittee. 

Together they have developed policy and training for PANZ, and this is now extending to members.

We are firmly committed to books and workplaces that represent people of all backgrounds, and aim to carry that through into our future publishing, starting from respect for the Treaty of Waitangi.