Author: Juliet Thomas

Witi Ihimaera : his best stories

A definitive collection by one of New Zealand’s best loved Māori authors, Witi Ihimaera.  Rua tekau mā whā stories,  spanning more than toru tekau mā rima years.

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Wars without end / Ngā pakanga whenua o mua New Zealand’s land wars: a Māori perspective by Danny Keenan.

From the earliest days of European settlement in New Zealand, Māori have struggled to hold on to their land. Tensions began early, arising from disputed land sales. When open conflict between Māori and Imperial forces broke out in the 1840s and 1860s, the struggles only intensified. For both sides, land was at the heart of the conflict, one that casts a long shadow over race relations in modern-day New Zealand. ‘Wars without end’ is the first book to approach this subject from a Māori point of view.

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Māori oral tradition is the rich, poetic record of the past handed down by voice over generations through whakapapa, whakataukī, kōrero and waiata. Jane McRae reveals some of this in Māori Oral Tradition: He Kōrero nō te Ao Tawhito.

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FFor thousands of years, Māori tohunga passed closely guarded knowledge to new generations of tohunga, using only an orally coded system. Rua rau years ago, they started recording that knowledge into secret manuscripts. These secret manuscripts are revealed here.

These secret manuscripts are revealed in Mariko B. Ryan’s Infinite threads: 100 indigenous insights from old Māori manuscripts.

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Discover traditional Māori philosophy through 52 whakataukī – simple, powerful life lessons, one for every week. With Aroha: Māori Wisdom for a Contented Life Lived in Harmony With Our Planet, by Hinemoa Elder.

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Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy Workbooks/Kete are for everyday learners of the Māori language. The 8 workbooks, each one building on the former. We have plenty of copies available in both the City and Community libraries, or online through BorrowBox. You just need to log in with BorrowBox using your library card number and pin, and you’re away!

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A Māori word a day : 365 words to kickstart your reo by Hēmi Kelly is a simple, effective and fun Maori dictionary for all New Zealanders.

It offers an easy, instant and motivating entry point into the Maori language. We have four physical editions and availability on Borrowbox and as an Adobe e-pub. Find them in the library.

First thousand words in Māori is a great way for anyone of any age to build their vocabulary. If you’re a very visual learner, you’ll love the colourful graphics featured in this fun dictionary.

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The Pōrangi Boy ko Shilo Kino

Twelve-year-old Niko lives in Pohe Bay, a small, rural town with a sacred hot spring and a taniwha named Taukere. The government plan to build a prison here and destroy the home of the taniwha, which has has divided the community. Some are against it, but others see it as an opportunity. Niko is worried about the land and Taukere, but who will listen to him? He’s an ordinary boy who’s laughed at, bullied, and called pōrangi, crazy, for believing in the taniwha.

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Bugs ko Whiti Hereaka

Meet Bugs: smart, sarcastic, sixteen and stuck in a small town without a driver’s licence. Bugs has been best mates with Jez forever; they’ve always been Jez and Bugs, Bugs and Jez. That is until Stone Cold, the new girl, arrives in town. The year was already going to be a challenge without adding spoilt, bitchy Stone Cold to the mix. Why would anyone want to be mates with her? But things are never as they seem on the surface – not the picture-perfect postcard views of Taupō, not the drama-queen antics of Stone Cold, not the quiet brooding of Jez. Not even Bugs. Now, as the future closes in, each will struggle with expectations: either trying to live up to them or trying to live them down.

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Cuz ko Liz Van der Laarse

River is offered the chance to crew on his uncle’s trawler — a coastal trip to get a new engine. He finds his cousin Huia annoying — she’s all about Māoritanga while he can’t even speak the language. When an accident leaves the two cousins stranded on the coast of Fiordland they must work together to save themselves.

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Kia kaha : a storybook of Māori who changed the world ko Stacey Morrison

A collection of true stories about amazing Māori who have achieved incredible things. Each of them blazed a trail in their own way, and this pukapuka was written to show that with your kura huna, your special gifts, you can make a difference too.

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Wāhine toa : omniscient Māori women

The creation myths of the Māori are profoundly beautiful. They speak to us directly about birth and death, and about love – between man and woman, mother and child. In this remarkable body of work depicting the eight principal female protagonists in the myths – from Te Pō, the darkness before the world and all being, to Hinenuitepō, the goddess of death who claimed Māui as she claims the least daring of man.

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Tūtewehi, ko Fred Maro

“Arā tētahi patupaiarehe rerekē rawa atu. Ko Tūtewehi tōna ingoa. He hautipua, he whakahīhī hoki. Arā kē atu a Matakairangi. He patupaiarehe anō. He hoa rānei, he hoariri rānei ki a Tūtewehi? Ehara te ao patupaiarehe mō te tokorua rā. Kotahi noa iho o rāua ka toa, ka ora. Engari ko te pātai ia, ko Matakairangi rānei? Ko Tūtewehi rānei?

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Te kaieke tohorā/ The Whale Rider ko Witi Ihimaera

The whale rider was Kahutia Te Rangi, Ancestor of the people of Te Tai Rāwhiti. Then there was Kahu. The first great-grandchild of the whānau, she was loved by all her relatives except the one whose love she needed most – her great-grandfather.

Available in te reo Māori and English.

Wars in the Whitecloud : Wairau, 1843 ko M. H. McKinley

In a small clearing of land nestled within the Wairau valley two peoples met; the recently established settlers of Nelson, and the governing tribe of that region – the renowned Ngati-Toa. When they marched, both sides were prepared for confrontation… yet they weren’t expecting that their actions would drastically alter the future of the nation.

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Arohanui : revenge of the fey ko Andrew Burdan

A story of two hostile tribes: one thriving, the other starving and forced to enter into a hard bargain to survive. In the midst of the conflict, two lovers from opposing tribes, Kahu and Kuratawhiti, plan to bring their warring tribes together through their marriage. But tragedy looms as Kahu defends his beloved Kuratawhiti against his treasured sister, Mira, who unleashes a lifetime of rage on Kuratawhiti and her people

Available in English and te reo Māori.

The Māori picture dictionary : Papakupu whakaahua ko Margaret Sinclair

Contains illustrations for over 1400 of the most common words used in daily life. Find it in the Library.

Also see Peppa’s first 100 Māori words and First thousand words in Māori

Ki te moe Aotearoa, ko Donovan Bixley

An engaging story of bedtime for all the animals around New Zealand being put to bed by their parents.

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Ko tōku māmā te kuini o te rori ko Jennifer Beck

This is the te reo Māori edition of My Mum is Queen of the Road. Ari and Isabella play with trucks and diggers, making roads in a sandpit. Ari tells Isabella that his mother is a roadworker who works the Stop/Go sign and is called Queen of the Road. Isabella tries to work out why she is a queen. Does she wear diamonds? Does she sit on a throne? Does she have a corgi?

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Arewhana Hunahuna ko David Barrow

A te reo Māori edition of this internationally bestselling picture book.

Kei te hia hunahuna a Arewhana. Nau mai, whakapiri mai! Otirā kia kaha koe – ka KINO tana pai!

A small boy and his elephant play an absurd game of hide and seek in this beautifully illustrated picture book that will have young readers shouting out loud in delight, and adults laughing too, as Elephant hides, in full view.

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He wheke wai mamangu au, ko Stephanie Thatcher

Join good friends, Inky and Jellyfish, as they play a spirited game of tag amongst the creatures and plants of the ocean.

Available in English and te reo Māori

Atua : Māori gods and heroes ko Gavin Bishop

Before the beginning there was nothing. No sound, no air, no colour: nothing. TE KORE, NOTHING. No one knows how long this nothing lasted because there was no time. However, in this great nothing there was a sense of waiting. Something was about to happen. Meet the gods, demigods and heroes of the Māori world, and explore Aotearoa’s exciting legends from the Creation to the Migration.

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Mokopuna Matatini, ko Pania Tahau-Hodges

It’s national kapa haka competition time again, and this Māori performing arts festival is a big event! It needs planning, tactics and dedication – and that’s just for the people watching! Nan’s a hardcore kapa haka follower, and she shows her mokopuna all the tricks to get the best seats, find the choicest pāua and whitebait fritters, hunt out the coolest poi and pounamu, and meet the star performers. And all along, Nan’s keeping a big secret!

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The Astromancer : the rising of Matariki, ko Witi Ihimaera

The Astromancer is looking for four new apprentices to learn about Matariki and the Maramataka calendar. She chooses three boys and an orphan girl, Aria, who will come only if she can bring her smelly dog. Aria, though, is bored by the lessons, and she doesn’t want to be told what to do. But these are dangerous times, and Ruatapu the Ravenous is about to threaten the safety of the whole tribe. Will Aria step up to save them?

Available in both English and te reo Māori.

Te rātaka a tama hūngoingoi : te hautaka a Greg Heffley, ko Jeff Kinney

Being a kid can really stink. And no one knows this better than Greg Heffley. In this brilliant translation of Jeff Kinney’s bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Heni Jacob, twelve year old hero Geoff Heffley is the Tama Hūngoingoi (Wimpy Kid) of the title. He tells us all about his life in te reo Māori.

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Hewa, ko Darryn Joseph

Hewa is about a boy who wants to help protect his family and friends. It involves American military software, a futuristic battleship called the USS Barack Obama, and artificial intelligences gaining sentience and self determination. Told in te reo Māori.

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Battle at the Gate: the story of the Battle of Gate Pā, Tauranga, New Zealand. by Jenny Jenkins.

A historical fiction for primary age children, Battle at the Gate tells a story of a young Māori woman who tended the British soldiers wounded at the battle of Gate Pā.

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Kia kaha : a storybook of Māori who changed the world ko Stacey Morrison

Kia Kaha is a collection of true stories about amazing Māori who have achieved incredible things. Each of them blazed a trail in their own way, and this pukapuka was written to show that with your kura huna, your special gifts, you can make a difference too.

Find it in the Library.

I waho, i te moana ko Yvonne Morrison

Out in the moana, underneath the sparkling sun, lived a mother sea lion and her little pup. A playful retelling of the much-loved traditional story, Over in the Meadow.

Available in English and te reo Māori.