From the forests of Finland, a thank you to nature for young readers in Oceania

Thank you, Forest

Johanna Venho

Illustrated by Sanna Pelliccioni

Translated by Jennifer Pulju Porter

Travelling all the way from the forests of Finland to the ngāhere of New Zealand, Thank you, Forest is a unique book for children — a story in the form of a child's notebook. 

Finnish author and poet Johanna Venho conjures up the world of Spruce, a young girl whose sanctuary is the forest near her house.

She writes and collects from the nature around her to fill her notebook with items that enrich her life.

Then her parents and brother Zach start to look glum and talk about the forest being 'zoned'. 

‘What does “zoned” mean?’ I ask.

‘It means they’re going to build apartment blocks here,’ Zach says.

Spruce returns to the forest and ties notes to the trees as a type of protest. The notes are seen by a mysterious boy with green eyes and twigs in his hair, who introduces himself as Gale. 

Gale takes Spruce to see an underground lake deep in  forest. Could this be secret they need to save the trees from destruction? 

Thank you, Forest conjures up a sense of belonging in nature that is perfectly reflected in Sanna Pelliccioni’s notebook-style illustrations.

Noted Finnish-American translator Jennifer Pulju Porter crafted the English text. 

A grant from the Finnish Literature Exchange supported this book to be published in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

The authors

Johanna Venho is a leading author and poet based in Finland who has written for both adults and children. Among the many awards for her books, she received the prestigious Arvid Lydecken Prize for Children’s Literature in 2003. 

Sanna Pelliccioni is an award-winning illustrator and children’s author whose work has been widely translated. She featured in the IBBY honour list 2022. Sanna lives in Helsinki, Finland.

Jen Pulju Porter is a Finnish-American translator who has worked across a range of genres in her career. She currently lives in Colorado, USA.

Publication: 7 November 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004294-2 |  RRP $25.99

Hardback, 240 x 175 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

Bilingual picture book offers new answer for that familiar question, How Many Times?

How Many Times?
Me Hia Rawa Ngā Wā?

Tim Tipene
Illustrated by Nicoletta Benella
Translated by Kanapu Rangitauira

Award-winning author shares bilingual tale of how words can teach kids to help around the house 

'How many times do I have to ask?’

That’s a question lots of parents have to put to their kids, after many other requests for help around the house. 

In Tim Tipene’s story, Tammy and Luca are always busy with screens and games to hear Mum asking them to do chores. 

That’s until Mum’s words come to life and take over the house, pinning Grandpa to his chair and launching the kids into action.

Italian-Kiwi artist Nicoletta Benella adds brilliant illustrations, with Rotorua-based Kanapu Rangitauira providing the translation.  

How Many Times? Me Hia Rawa Ngā Wā? is out in bookstores ahead of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week 2025.

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 the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Tim lives with his whānau in Rānui, West Auckland. 

Nicoletta Benella is an artist originally from north-eastern Italy, where she was a designer for fashion house Benetton. Among her other illustrations are for Tim’s The Book that Wouldn’t Read / Te Pukapuka ka Kore e Pānuihia. Nicoletta lives with her family in Hatfields Beach, Auckland.

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 are Te Pukapuka ka Kore e Pānuihia and The Ever-Standing Tree / Te Rākau Tū Tonu. He lives with his whānau in Rotorua. 

Publication: 4 September 2025 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004281-2 | RRP $22.99

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

Giant wētā stars in new picture book, and in a young girl's gumboots ...

 Koro Wētā

Heather Haylock

Illustrated by Sarah Trolle

Māori translation by Ngairo Eruera

What happens when a girl and a wētā find they both like to use the same gumboots

From bestselling children’s author Heather Haylock comes a bilingual tale of a girl and a giant wētā that will both entertain and educate young Kiwi readers.

It tells the story of a girl whose favourite footwear is her trusty gumboots. But every time she leaves them outside at night, a giant wētā decides to use them as a hiding place. 

 

What to do? Her parents encourage her to care for the wētā, whom they christen ‘Koro’ (Grandpa), and help her to fill the gumboots with newspaper to dissuade him. It doesn’t work, and nor does leaving Dad’s smelly socks inside. 

Readers will have to pick up the book to find how girl and wētā manage to get along — and they’ll be swept along by Heather’s words in English and Māori, with Sarah Trolle’s fun illustration and Ngairo Eruera's te reo translation.

A page of fun facts about the amazing wētā awaits at the end of this delightful picture book, out in good bookstores now. A free teacher resource will be available for download from the Oratia Books website 

  

The author

Heather Haylock is the proud author of several picture books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the bestselling Granny McFlitter series. She lives with her family in Auckland; see https://www.heatherhaylock.nz 

The illustrator

Sarah Trolle is a primary school teacher and illustrator who works in a range of media. She has illustrated books by authors including David Riley and Erin Munro. She lives with her family in Nelson.

The translator

Ngairo Eruera is a senior lecturer at The University of Waikato and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa in Tauranga. A registered translator and advocate for te reo Māori, he lives with his whānau in Katikati.

Publication: 8 July 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004269-0 | RRP $22.99

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

Northland author-illustrator debuts with a universal 'tail ' about who we are – or think we are

I'm a Submarine

Nigel McHardy

Hello whale!’

‘Whale? I’m not a whale. I’m a submarine.’

 

A seagull is a seagull, and a whale is a whale. 

Seagull knows a thing or two about sea creatures and submarines. But after meeting Whale, Seagull learns that things are not always what they seem!

 

Whale tries hard to convince Seagull that he/she may look like a whale, but is actually a submarine!

When a storm arrives, Seagull gets to put Whale’s claims to the test, acting like an avian Jonah and finding that with a little imagination, we can be who we want to be.

 

In this highly original debut book, designer and nature enthusiast Nigel McHardy takes young readers on a fun journey that is all about the joy of pretending and questioning what you see. 

As an illustrator and designer, Nigel had been mulling over the idea of a book for over a decade. A redundancy finally pushed him to get serious and flesh out the concept, and Oratia Books agreed to take on the project.

While the primary characters in the book are a seagull and a whale (or is it a submarine?) the beautifully illustrated story is as much about identity as it is the ocean. 

“It’s also about how people perceive the world differently. While people may look similar on the outside, we’re certainly not the same on the inside. That idea was very much on my mind when I developed this story.

 

“I wanted to share the idea that we should have the freedom to choose our own identity,’ says Nigel. “Having kids myself encouraged me to put this into a book.”

 

Another inspiration is his father’s shipwreck. In 1968, he was aboard the Maranui when it sank off the coast of the Coromandel in a terrible storm. Only a third of the crew survived. It’s something Nigel only learned about in the past few years, and it had a profound impact on him. 

There’s a shipwreck in an underwater scene in the book, and Nigel used photos of the Maranui as a subtle tribute to that part of his family’s history.

  

The author

Nigel McHardy lives in the countryside with beautiful views over the Whangarei Harbour that inspire his stories. A professional designer by day, he enjoys dreaming up new projects inspired by his love of nature, and spending time with his family. This is his first book. To find out more, visit https://www.nigelmchardy.com 

Publication: 3 April 2025  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004280-5 | RRP $21.00

Paperback, 230 x 215 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

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

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