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

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