Dawn Raid: The Apology

 

Dawn Raid: The Apology                            

Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith
with Brooklyn Taylor
Ill. Minky Stapleton
My New Zealand Story series
Scholastic (2026)
Novel, 168 pages
Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 981 3

  

“I thought diary writing was going to be boring but so far it’s been okay.’ 

Jeremy McRae starts writing his diary in Invercargill in March 2020 as a school exercise but he quickly finds it a pleasure. ‘My grandmother Sofia (a.k.a. Granfia) always talks about the importance of keeping a record of our experience.’ Jeremy finds plenty to record because the Covid-19 epidemic has just reached New Zealand. Dawn Raid: the Apology, the latest addition to the My New Zealand Story series, thus records not one but two key events in our recent history.

 Covid becomes personal for Jeremy when Southland cases are reported and one of the infected men has children at Jeremy’s school. The next few pages give a vivid account of how the Covid lockdown changed people’s lives, especially when Mum has to have a test. Jeremy gives each day’s entry its own heading and two of them really hit home: PANIC! and LOCKDOWN!. Jeremy’s parents decide they will all move in with Granfia and Grandpa in their ten-acre block, just out of Invercargill, forming a larger family ‘bubble’ for the next four weeks.

 It is against the background of the lockdown that the diary now takes a fascinating turn. Jeremy helps Granfia to bring some stored boxes down from the loft, for sorting in the garage. ‘Old people collect A LOT of stuff,’ Jeremy writes, promising himself that he’ll never ask his grandkids to eat so much dust. ‘We got sidetracked with boxes of photos.’ Mullet hairdos, crocheted tank tops, Chrysler Valiants, go-go boots and other artefacts of the 1970s appear in the photos, along with a picture of people protesting.

 ‘Granfia pointed to a young girl and very casually said, “That’s me.” Wow. She was famous.’

 As Jeremy brings down more boxes, he finds that ‘Granfia really does get more interesting each day.’ He gets a crash course from Sofia in protest movements, including Bastion Point, the Springbok Tour and the Dawn Raids. The kids have heard about the Dawn Raids at school but Sofia surprises them all by reading aloud, from her 1976 diary, the account of her father and uncles being arrested. This is a jaw-dropping moment for readers who suddenly work out that Granfia is short for Grandma Sofia, who was Sofia Savea, the 13-year-old protestor hero of Dawn Raid (2018).

  Just as she did in the original novel, Dawn Raid, author Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith, creates a lively family atmosphere, even in the claustrophobic days of the Covid lockdown. Every page of Jeremy’s diary is fascinating. His teacher notes, when she assesses his efforts, that each entry records, ‘vivid details that create clear images in the mind of the reader.’

 Communication was important during the lockdown and so Jeremy’s friends text him, Granfia learns to use Snapchat and Auckland Aunts Nina and Alice use Face Time to help judge the family’s cooking competition. The most interesting link-up is when Granfia talks to the early members of the Polynesian Panthers about their plans to mark the fiftieth anniversary of their movement.  And Jeremy is allowed to sit in.  ‘I expected them all to be in their berets and leather jackets, but they were just in regular clothes like trackpants and sweatshirts.’

This culminates in the truly moving public ceremony, so aptly described in the title: The Apology.

 The striking cover portrait of Jeremy McRae, with its dramatic background using traditional Samoan designs, is by Minky Stapleton. It is also a neat companion to Minky Stapleton’s portrait of Jeremy’s grandmother, Sofia Savea, on the cover of Dawn Raid (2018).

As usual with the My New Zealand Story series, there is a lively and useful Historical Note at the end of the story, including contemporary photographs and a truculent letter from Robert Muldoon. More palatably, Granfia’s Famous Recipe for brandy snaps is also included.

 

Note: Co-author Brooklyn Taylor is Pauline Smith’s grandson. The publishers note that both ‘Pauline and Brooklyn found hanging out together to learn, research and create this book, side by side, a deeply enriching experience.’

Young readers and adult readers alike will find that entering this book is also a deeply enriching experience.

 

Trevor Agnew
10 June 2026  [Review 3844]

Dawn Raid 
Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith

Review by Trevor Agnew 
in Magpies magazine, May 2018

Dawn Raid (2018)
Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith                            

Scholastic NZ
My NZ Story series
Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 475 7   

 

I find myself in the embarrassing position of reviewing a historical novel, which deals with a period that I remember. Those two words ‘dawn raid’ have a grim resonance for those of us who lived through the period of the overstayer controversy. The novel Dawn Raid is the latest in Scholastic’s My New Zealand Story series, so it has the familiar format of a diary kept by an observant teenager during interesting times.

 

The first thing to be said about Dawn Raid is that, despite its serious theme, it is an enjoyably amusing family story. Sofia Savea is a lively enthusiastic person, who writes with verve about her family, particularly her disaster-prone younger brothers, Ethan and Tavita. Her diary begins in June 1976 on her thirteenth birthday, when the big news is the opening of New Zealand’s first Macdonald’s in Porirua.

 

It was certainly a different age. Sofia’s milk delivery job means she can buy View-Master reels and go-go boots, and she pays little attention to the developing tension over unemployment rates and overstayers. Sofia looks up to her older brother Lenny (17) and is impressed by his school speech about the Hikoi and Maori land rights.  Interestingly it is Lenny’s friend Rawiri who first expresses concern about the rights of Pacific Islanders and dawn raids by police.  (“Me and Lily didn’t know what they were talking about,” writes Sofia, although she soon learns more.) The connection between Maori and Pacific Island communities’ response to these civil rights issues is well brought out.

 

Another strong feature is that the characters also learn from experience and develop in the course of the story. This includes Sofia’s hard-working Samoan-born father, Siaosi, who is rigidly authoritarian and has trouble accepting Lenny’s involvement with the Polynesian Panther movement. The cleverest change of attitude comes when Sofia encounters racial hostility from a classmate, Charlotte. Circumstances force the pair together, producing not only embarrassment and some fine comedy but also a mutual understanding.

 

While Sofia is ebullient in her diary, she finds making a speech at school is an ordeal but one of the pleasures of Dawn Raid is watching her rise to the challenge, so that her final speech becomes a rousing appeal for fair treatment of Islanders.

 

For the cover, Minky Stapleton has created an attractive and colourful portrait of a smiling Sofia, showing her surrounded by symbols – milk bottles, placards, white go-go boots – which make sense after you’ve read Sofia’s story. The cover style is very different from the others in the My New Zealand Story series and I hope it attracts readers.

 

Although only four contemporary photos are provided – surely there must be more images available - the author’s Historical Notes are well detailed, drawing connections to real people encountered in Sofia’s story. (Even Che Fu makes a guest appearance as a baby.)

 Some may be surprised by the attitudes shown by the police in the story but the situations depicted are based on real events. At the time Police Chief Superintendent Berriman declared, “Anyone who speaks with a non-New Zealand accent must arouse some query or suspicion.”

 Pauline Vaeluaga Smith has given a new generation an insight into a controversial and shameful period of our past – and she has done it with humour and compassion.

 

 This review first published in Magpies Magazine, May 2018

Trevor Agnew  Christchurch 

 

 

The Terrible Trio: The Mystery of the Lost Cape                                                                               

    
Swapna Haddow
Ill. Minky Stapleton
Scholastic (2026)
Graphic novel, 192 pages                                            

Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 901 1

 

We’re three volumes into The Terrible Trio series 
and I hadn’t noticed that the animal superheroes 
all wear capes when they come to the rescue. Yes, there they are: super-spoonbills saving overturned turtles, super-giraffes rescuing kittens from eagles, and super-pythons capturing bank-robbing capybaras. All those heroes wear capes at work.

Yet, our superheroes, Zeb the zebra, Barry the lemur and Margarine the penguin, are never seen wearing capes. Of course, they were right at the back of the queue when the superpowers were handed out. This means, rather disappointingly, that Zeb can camouflage himself on pedestrian crossings, Marge can make mac ‘n’ cheese, and Barry has nice handwriting. Perhaps they don’t need capes.

 

As Swapna Haddow’s latest chronicle of their adventures (and misadventures) begins, the trio are tidying- up at their mac ‘n’ cheese restaurant. The Lost Property Box poses a challenge; most of its contents seem to be Zeb’s rubber ducks. This results in the usual weird conversation which is a cheerful feature of The Terrible Trio:

Barry: ‘Your rubber duck is called Chick Chick?’

Zeb: ‘Yup.’

Barry: ‘You didn’t want to name your rubber duck DUCK DUCK?’

Zeb: ‘Nope. His name is Chick Chick. Marge helped me name him.

 

Barry finds a cape in the lost property and tries it on. He floats to the ceiling. He unties it and falls to the floor. A terrible temptation overcomes Barry. Soon reports are coming in of a masked crusader who has outwitted an entire wolf gang of bullion robbers.

Barry wears swimming goggles to keep the flies out of his eyes, so his friends don’t recognise him as he appears on the TV news using his super-skills to create life-saving notice-boards. Even as the Masked Crusader becomes a cult hero, Zeb is wondering about a very large emu who is offering a very large reward for a missing flying cape.

What follows is comic mayhem, especially when the emu is revealed to have a second super power, in her ability to kick bottoms.

 Swapna Haddow’s secret super-power is writing crazy conversations but she has the additional ability to construct running gags that recur throughout a story, ensuring a good time is had by all readers.

Minky Stapleton’s super-power is creating animal illustrations that show a flying lemur finding a way to rescue a sky-diving elephant who has become hooked on a steeple – and making us believe it could really happen.

 The Terrible Trio series is proof that humour is alive and well and living in New Zealand.

The series so far:

The Terrible Trio: the (not so) Superheroes (2025)
The Terrible Trio: the Day the Mac ‘n’ Cheese ran out (2025)
The Terrible Trio: the Mystery of the Lost Cape (2026)

Teaching Notes are at: the-terrible-trio_teacher-notes_final.pdf

Trevor Agnew

10 June 2026  [Review 3843]

 

Dreamslinger  Graci Kim

 

Dreamslinger  Graci Kim
Penguin Random House (2025)
Novel, 295 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 776 95 343 1

 

New Zealand author Graci Kim follows her highly successful 

Gifted Clans trilogy with another lively and humorous fantasy series which also draws on Korean mythology.

Dreamslinger introduces Aria Loveridge (14), an ordinary girl with an extraordinary genetic mutation which makes her a dreamslinger.   Aria has a bright personality – her father, Professor Jack Loveridge, calls her ‘sparkler’ after the firework. Aria has accepted that being a dreamslinger makes her different in many ways. She feels her emotions more deeply than ordinary people and this has consequences.

Dreamslingers all have powerful dreams about the same mystical world, The Asleep. The emotions generated there can have fatal results. (Aria’s Korean-born mother died in a major dreamslinger Outburst, when Aria was only four.) Undaunted, Jack has campaigned for acceptance of the dreamslingers and his ‘restrain, contain, maintain’ programme is carried out in the Resthaven Home for Dreamslingers in Almiro, Texas.

 Aria is one of the young residents there whose dreams are researched. When they wake, the dreamslingers can safely unleash their Outbursts of pent-up emotions in chambers built to withstand the fires, hurricanes, ice storms and poisonous acids they generate. Understandably, there is public unease about the potential menace of dreamslingers. Worse follows when Jack’s Resthaven launch ceremony is hi-jacked by Tae, a Royal Slinger from the tiny hermit kingdom of Royal Hanguk (There, the Royal League trains teenagers to harness their outbursts and even bring dream beasts, such as Tae’s bloom dragon, Jaya, back from The Asleep).  Aria is blamed for the fiasco which results.

 With the future of her father’s work and the survival of Resthaven in jeopardy, Aria has to accept the challenge of King Lee Ogu and journey to Royal Hanguk, to compete in the Trials to be accepted as a Fellow. Her secret intention is to learn everything she can to help her father’s research, especially how dream beasts are controlled.

‘She was going to find the evidence she needed to prove that this reckless elite League was dangerous and plotting something sinister.’

 Hanguk turns out to be ‘nestled on an island inside Seoul’.  (Aria’s driver, Nam Changdo, compares it to Vatican City’s position within Rome.) Graci Kim has a powerful imagination so that her Hanguk is even more amazing than the Vatican. Menus there change according to the diner’s mood, while beds will adjust their comfort levels provided that they are instructed in rhyme.

 Aria passes a preliminary test of her powers, one of only a hundred trainees to do so. (Another successful candidate is Tui Walker, a New Zealander.) King Lee Ogu warns them that only twenty will become Fellows, so the competition will be fierce.

Aria and Tui are chosen to live in the Spring Palace of the bloom dragon during the Trials. The following two-thirds of the book follow Aria through the various challenges and her growing understanding of how the magical qualities of The Asleep can be used. Aria makes friends and some enemies. She also discovers that rather than being ordinary, she is truly exceptional.

 Dreamslinger is an exciting, sometimes alarming and often amusing adventure, with the bonus of a richly detailed dreamscape.

And dragons. There are lots of dragons.

 An unusual aspect of Dreamslinger is that the first edition (2025) 

used not one but two cover    

An Unusual aspect of Dreamslinger is that the first edition (2025) used not one but two cover illustrations, for different regions. Vivien To’s picture, used on the editions for the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, shows Aria in a hanbok (a traditional Korean dress, described on p.89) while a flying dragon circles her.  This illustration reflects Aria’s joint American and Korean heritage. The Disney Hyperion cover for the United States market, created by Jessica Fong, shows Aria riding on the back of a dragon; looking more like a young American superhero. The two covers may be seen to reflect different attitudes to DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion).

The book also provides maps (by Virginia Allan) of The Asleep and the Kingdom of Royal Hanguk, as well as Rachel Hamilton’s music for Aria’s lullaby.

The second volume in the series, about Aria’s novice training, is called Royalslinger.

Graci Kim’s website at www.gracikim.com includes Teacher Notes and printable resources.

 

Trevor Agnew 

18 May 2025  [Review 3768]

 The Caring Stars of Matariki: Pōhutukawa and Hiwa-i-te-Rangi
 

The Caring Stars of Matariki:                         
Pōhutukawa and Hiwa-i-te-Rangi
Miriama Kamo
Zak Waipara
Scholastic (2026)
Picture book, 32 pages
Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 971 4

 

‘Why did Pōua have to die?’ Sam asked.

Grandma kissed his head. ‘Because it was his time,’ she said. ‘Everything and everyone has its time.’

 Matariki is a time to remember the dead. Out on the wind-beaten shore of Te Mata Hāpuku (Birdlings Flat) Sam and Te Rerehua are being comforted by their Grandma, as they recall their late Pōua (Grandfather). They have memories of him catching and drying eels, hunting for agates and teaching them local traditions.

Sitting on a stony bank and looking up at the stars, they listen to Grandma telling them how precious this place is, with its marvellous waves and its view of the stars.

‘It’ll be Matariki soon,’ says Grandma and she tells them of the star Pōhutukawa who guides the dead on their journey to the stars.

They are interrupted by the patupaiarehe (trouble-making fairy folk of Māori tradition) who are hurling their raupō net into the sky. They are trying to capture Pōhutukawa. Why?

The patupaiarehe look defeated, and explain, ‘Because Grandma said that Pōua is with Pōhutukawa.’

Just like the humans, they are missing Pōua and want to bring him back. Grandma is firm with the patupaiarehe and reminds them that when the Matariki cluster of stars rises ‘all those people who have died in the last year will be released into the heavens. Pōhutukawa will guide them.’

‘What then?’

‘Then they will all become stars.’

Sam gets the abashed patupaiarehe to agree never to pull any more stars down.

When Pōhutukawa rises above the horizon a few days later, Grandma, Sam, Te Rerehua and all the patupaiarehe are waiting on the beach in the darkness. They all join in calling out, ‘Pōua! Pōua!’ as Grandma has taught them, ‘knowing that thousands of people everywhere were calling out the names of their loved ones too.’

The story ends with the mokopuna making their wishes for the year ahead on the star Hiwa-i-te-Rangi, just as the sun rises.

 Once again Miriama Kamo has succeeded in creating a story that conveys the essence of Matariki. She writes simple but powerful prose in the style of the traditional myths and legends. She has succeeded in the challenging feat of writing an appealing account for young readers of the importance of acknowledging the death of a loved one.

‘Memories. They’re just like the waves. Always there, washing up in our minds just when we need them.’

 

As always, Zak Waipara uses dramatic brush-strokes and strong lines to capture the wind-swept beauty of the great shingle spit of Te Mata Hāpuku. His pictures of the patupaiarehe are always a delight because he portrays them as truculent teenagers, always keen on mischief. Twinkling diamond symbols float around them as visual reminders of their supernatural powers. His symbolic pattern of the Matariki star cluster , which makes quiet appearances throughout the story, reflects traditional Māori weaving patterns. The pictures complement the story in simplicity and power.

 

With The Caring Stars of Matariki, this series of picture books has achieved its highest level, incorporating traditional beliefs and customs in a lively and interesting story that touches base with some very deep issues.

 

This is the fifth book in the Matariki series by Miriama Kamo and Zak Waipara:

 The Stolen Stars of Matariki (2018)

The Twin Stars of Matariki (2023)

The Kai Stars of Matariki (2024)

The Wild and Windy Stars of Matariki (2025

The Caring Stars of Matariki (2026)

 

Māori language versions of these books are also available:

Ngā Whetu Matariki Whānakotia (2018)

Ko Ngā Whetū Takirua Matariki (2023)

Ko Ngā Whetū Kai o Matariki (2024)

Ko Ngā Whetū Hauhau, Whetū Tarakaka o Matariki (2025

Ko Ngā Whetū Raupī o Matariki (2026)

 

Trevor Agnew  10 June 2026

Review 3842

 

 

 He Ata te Raru ki Tai?                        

What’s the Matter with the Sea?        Mij le ábijn dáhpáduvvamin?

 

Author: Rita Sørly
Illustrator:  Malgorzata Piotrowska
Translators: Kanapu Rangitauira (Māori), Are Tjihkkom (Lule Sámi), Maria Nayr de Pinho Correia Ibrahim and Charlotta Maria Langejan (English)
Oratia Books (2026)
Picture book, 48 pages, Hardback
ISBN: 978 1 99 135301 6

 

 

A rare tropical whale is in trouble in northern Norway. Two Māori marine researchers from Otago must sail there, through the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, to find out what has happened. What they discover about the condition of the world’s seas during their journey helps them understand the fate of the stranded whale. Remarkably, this story is told in three languages: Māori, Sámi and English.

 BOOK REVIEW:

He Ata te Raru ki Tai?  What’s the Matter with the Sea?  Mij le ábijn dáhpáduvvamin?

 

‘We could be the first researchers from our iwi to travel by sea to Norway,’ says Whina.

 Whina and Aihe are both Māori and both work as marine biologists at the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre at Portobello on the Otago Harbour. Aihe specialises in studying whales, while Whina is a krill expert. (Krill are tiny shrimps, a food for many sea creatures, especially whales.) The pair are invited to Gamvik, in Norway, for a conference about ocean pollution by plastics. They are to travel there by sea.

 The conference is faced with a mystery. A rare deep-diving tropical whale has stranded near Gamvik. Why was it in the Arctic waters? Aihe says, ‘This whale is a long way from home.’

As their research boat travels northwards, the two researchers sample the sea and dive to check the underwater wildlife. They see turtles, fish and whales tangled in ropes and fishing net debris.

’Is plastic spreading everywhere?’ they ask.

 Further North, they encounter ice. ‘A polar bear and her cub stand on an ice floe, surrounded by bottles, plastic bags and remnants of fishing gear.’

 When Aihe and Whina reach Gamvik, they find that the whale had thirty plastic bags in its stomach. ‘Algae stick to the plastic, so fish and sea creatures think it is food.’

  

CAPTION: One of the English translators, Charlotta Maria Langejan.  

                                                          (Photo: Adrian Svendsen Bensvik)

At the conference they share their findings about the dangers of ocean pollution by plastic debris.    

‘The whale probably thought the shiny plastic bags were tasty squid.’

 Rita Sørly's story concludes with a page suggesting ways to reduce pollution in the sea.

 The Polish-Norwegian artist, Malgorzata Piotrowska, has created richly fantastic colour illustrations for this book. Rather than providing realistic pictures, she has used symbolic representations which clarify what is happening in the story. For example, when the scientists are looking at news of the goose-beaked whale on a computer, the wall of their office has been replaced by an ocean scene featuring a goose-beaked whale. Young readers can work out instantly how it earned its name, as soon as they spot its profile.   

Pedants may complain that Piotrowska’s painting of Otago Harbour distorts the landscape but it emphasises two key aspects of the story: the vastness of the ocean and the birds pecking at plastic netting.                                                  

 Her underwater scenes – and many of the pictures are in or under the ocean – use a subtle range of blues and greens to provide another reminder of how huge the planet’s oceans are. This gives a strong background, directing attention to the various fish and other sea creatures facing the perils of floating plastic.

 The endpaper map showing the voyage of the research boat is amusingly depicted by Malgorzata Piotrowska as a pattern of frothy bubbles on the ocean’s surface. Only Australia will not be amused.

 Another amusing aspect of her illustration work (on page 46) is the inclusion at the conference of Greta Thunberg.

 

A unique feature of this book is that it is written in three languages, two of them belonging to indigenous peoples facing exploitation of their land and sea resources. For this reason, I checked my phone’s translator app on the text to see how it coped with the three.

 The English version of the text has Whina saying, ‘Floating plastic is destroying life in the ocean.’ The Māori equivalent seemed perfect. ‘E patua ana ngā koiora moana e te kirihou mānu,’ which came through my phone as ‘Marine life is being killed by floating plastic.’ No problems for Kiwis there.

 My phone then took the Sámi equivalent (‘Ábijn fievve plastijka biejssti nuore iellemav’) and rendered it in English as, ‘I’ve never seen a plastic bag in my young life.’ Further attempts produced, ‘I’ve had a lot of plastic in my young life.’ And ‘Plastic surgery has changed the lives of young people.’ I went to Google Translate and got even stranger results. (‘Abijn five plastic beast young life.’)

 I suspect the Sámi input into the translation app vocabulary banks is a work in progress. Human translators are still the best.

 The importance of its message, as well as the recognition of the value of storytelling in all cultures, certainly justifies all the creative work that went into the publication of He Ata te Raru ki Tai? What’s the Matter with the Sea? Mij le ábijn dáhpáduvvamin?

 

Note. The University of Otago’s Marine Studies Centre website is at:

NewZealand Marine Studies Centre Home, New Zealand Marine Studies Centre |University of Otago

A Sámi people website is at:

Sápmi - IWGIA -International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

 

 

BACKGROUND:

He Ata te Raru ki Tai?
What’s the Matter with the Sea?
Mij le ábijn dáhpáduvvamin?

 Author: Rita Sørly
Illustrator:  Malgorzata Piotrowska

Translators: Kanapu Rangitauira (Māori), Are Tjihkkom (Lule Sámi), Maria Nayr de Pinho Correia Ibrahim and Charlotta Maria Langejan (English)
Oratia Books (2026)
Picture book, 48 pages, Hardback
ISBN: 978 1 99 135301 6

 

A rare tropical whale is in trouble in northern Norway. Two Māori marine researchers from Otago must sail there, through the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, to find out what has happened. What they discover about the condition of the world’s seas during their journey helps them understand the fate of the stranded whale. Remarkably, this story is told in three languages: Māori, Sámi and English.

  

BACKGROUND  TO THE  BOOK:

He Ata te Raru ki Tai? What’s the Matter with the Sea? Mij le ábijn dáhpáduvvamin?

This handsome hardback picture book needs some prior explanation, because it has an interesting history. In Norway in 2020, the Professor in Social Work and Director of the Arctic Youth Research Programme of Nord University, Rita Sørly, wrote a bilingual book Ábiid plástihkat – Plasten i havet [Plastic in the Sea]. The illustrations were by Malgorzata Piotrowska, a Polish-Norwegian writer and illustrator.  The striking feature of this book was that it was bi-lingual, written in both the Norwegian and the Lule Sámi language.

 

Caption: The author, Rita Sørly, is a professor in social work, and director of the Arctic Nord Youth Research Center at The Arctic University of Norway. She lives in Tromsø, northern Norway.

 The Sámi people are the indigenous people of the Arctic region of Scandinavia (once known as Lapland) with a population of about 100,000 spread across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of Russia.  The publication had a double aim: to illuminate an environmental issue and to provide a book that young Sami people could read in their own language.

                                       Lule-Sámi translator, Are Tjihkkom. (Elena Paulsen / NRK Sápmi.)  

The success of Ábiid plástihkat – Plasten i havet led directly to the creation of He Ata te Raru ki Tai?  

 Several staff from Nord University were involved in the venture, including Rose Martin, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Arts. Originally from New Zealand, Rose Martin is strongly committed to Sámi and Indigenous issues. She saw the parallels between the Sámi and Māori cultures and languages.

 

 CAPTION: Rose Martin, Dean of Faculty
of Education and Arts at Nord University. 
The standard is the Sámi flag.
 (Photo: Bjørnar Leknes)

 Two researchers and translators at the university, Maria Nayr de Pinho Correia Ibrahim and Charlotta Maria Langejan, translated Rita Sørly’s original Norwegian text into English as What’s the Matter with the Sea?.  Are Tjihkkom provided the Lule Sámi translation, Mij le ábijn dáhpáduvvamin?. Two publishing companies became involved – Davii Girji in Norway and Oratia Books in New Zealand. The translation into Māori was provided by teacher and translator Kanapu Rangitauira (Te Arawa, Ngāti Porou, Te Whakatōhea) as He Ata te Raru ki Tai?. Once again, the illustrator was Malgorzata Piotrowska

 

Thus, this tri-lingual picture book was created - the first to combine te reo Māori, Lule Sámi and English. In 2026 it was the central feature of Norway’s display of books at the famous Bologna Children’s Book Fair, where Norway was the official guest-of-honour. A recording of Kanapu Rangitauira and his whanau reading the Māori text was played as part of the book’s international launch at the Fair on 13^th April 2026. 

“This is an inspiring example of how collaboration across languages, cultures, and Indigenous contexts can create new spaces for visibility, recognition, and learning," said Rose Martin.  

(In New Zealand the book’s publication date is 11 June 2026, in the same week as World Oceans Day on 6 June.)

Caption: Translators Charlotta Maria Langejan (left) 
and Maria Nayr de Pinho Correia Ibrahim (right) 
at Nord University (Photo: Private)

 

Researcher and translator, Maria Nayr de Pinho Correia Ibrahim, said, ‘Bringing these languages together reflects a desire for greater understanding, curiosity, and empathy in a world that sometimes feels cruel. I hope that in classrooms worldwide, this book builds intercultural and linguistic bridges for Indigenous and minority cultures.’

 

Her co-translator, Charlotta Maria Langejan, believes that for a language to survive and develop it must be used.  She says, ‘When children and young people can read books in their own language, it strengthens confidence, pride, and a sense of belonging. Children have the right to learn and read in their own language.’

 

The last word goes to the author, Rita Sørly, ‘The aim of the book is both clear and ambitious: to strengthen Lule Sámi and Māori, with English as a bridge. At the same time, it is intended to give children and young people access to new perspectives on language, culture, and identity.’

 

Source: Press Release by Bjørn Olav Leknes of Nord University, on Science Norway website: ttps://partner.sciencenorway.no/books-indigenous-people-language/this-unique-picture-book-features-two-indigenous-languages-and-english/2637304 [Accessed 5 Jun 2026]

 

Trevor Agnew 6 June 2026

[Review 3834]

 

 

 

Kekeno: Curious Explorer 

Katie Furze
Illustrated by Ned Barraud

 

 

Kekeno: Curious Explorer                

Katie Furze
Ill. Ned Barraud                                
Scholastic (2026)
Non-fiction Picture Book
34 pages, Paperback
ISBN 978 1 77543 967 7

 

‘Baby Kekeno sniffs the salty air,

Shakes his flippers and looks around.’

Kekeno is the Māori word for seal, and the young hero of this book, a fur seal pup, is certainly a curious-minded explorer.

Katie Furze’s lively verses follow Kekeno from his summer birth through his first year on a rocky coastal shore, so the book can be read as an interesting and sometimes exciting seal biography. Most pages also carry a text box by Katie Furze, which offers extra details or explanations, so the book can also be read as a non-fiction work describing the seal life-cycle, habitat and food sources. (It also describes some of the perils facing seals, especially the curious ones.)

 

Regularly fed by his mother, Kekeno grows in size and curiosity. He plays in pools with the other seal pups, while their mothers are away catching fish. The fact box explains, ‘Fur seal pups spend a lot of time playing. This helps them to develop strength and agility.’’

 

Ned Barraud’s cover illustration shows Kekeno as a cute youngster with appealing eyes. I have often met pups playing on the mole at Aramoana and I can confirm the cuteness of those eyes. What Ned Barraud’s other illustrations confirm is that eyes on the front of the head identify a predator, an eater of meat. Sure enough, by autumn Kekeno is catching fish and in winter he gobbles his first squid. ‘Seizing it with his sharp teeth, he swallows it whole.’

 

The illustrations are, as always with Ned Barraud’s work, both striking and beautiful. They are also accurate representations, especially the images of Kekeno raising himself on his flippers and galumphing across a football field.

 

At a year old, Kekeno is shown exploring an estuary and then crossing a busy road into a small town. Here he startles a cat which escapes through a cat-flap in a door. Ned Barraud uses a set of smaller pictures to depict the variety of surprises which follow, as Kekeno seeks a little shade to sleep in.

 

The conclusion of this book is satisfying, with Kekeno making his own escape and tumbling:

‘into the inky depths

of the cool wet ocean.

At last, he’s home.

 

With its easily-read text and dramatic illustrations, this is an ideal book for young readers and researchers.

A valuable bonus is the pages of information on New Zealand fur seals and their history at the back of the book. The Māori name for the seal, kekeno, literally means ‘look around’ which is certainly what seals always do. (Those eyes again, although the whiskers are sensitive too.)

 

Kekeno: Curious Explorer is thus a book which deserves a place in home, school and library.

Other books in this talented pair’s handsome series of Non-fiction Picture Books are Tuatara: A Living Treasure (2023) Ruru: Night Hunter (2024) and Pekapeka: Secret Forest Bat (2025).

There are Teacher Notes by Janine Scott for all four titles on the Scholastic website at: https://www.scholastic.co.nz

 

Trevor Agnew 

29 May 2026 [Review 3837]

 

Does Daniel Wilmott Tell Lies?  Juliet Martin  Ill. David Johnstone

 

Does Daniel Wilmott Tell Lies?

Juliet Martin  Ill. David Johnstone
Hazard Press, Christchurch (1991)
Picture Book, 34 pages, Paperback
ISBN 0 908790 23 6

 

Daniel’s friends looked at each other, heaved their shoulders and shouted, ‘Daniel Wilmott. You tell lies!’

 But does Daniel tell lies? This classic New Zealand picture book lets readers answer that question as Daniel keeps his friends guessing.  On a country walk, Daniel’s friends, Elliott, Alice and Nancy, join him outside an isolated house Daniel tells him that the empty, run-down building belongs to his Aunt Johanna.

‘Where’s she gone?’ they ask.

‘W..e..e..l,’ said Daniel, tilting his head, squinting his eyes and crossing his fingers, ‘She’s gone to the moon and she’s late coming back because … they tied her up with green string.’

Every time the four walk past the empty house, Daniel is asked the same question.

‘Where’s your aunt today, Daniel?’

Juliet Martin’s writing neatly captures the suspicious mood of Daniel’s friends and their cheerful repetition of their accusation. ‘Daniel Wilmott. You tell lies!’

 Daniel’s answers always have some plausible detail. Aunt Johanna is late getting back from underground exploration because somebody burgled her torch batteries. She’s late getting back from the jungle because she was chased up a banana tree. She’s late getting back from the desert because they made her join a camel train.

Finally, the day comes when the children see that the house has been put to rights, the lawn has been mowed and the chimneys repaired.

‘GREAT!’ cried Daniel, ‘My Aunt Johanna must be back.’ And he vanishes into the house.

 David Johnson’s colour illustrations bring the four children to life, from Daniel crossing his fingers to Elliott picking his nose. While they wait for Daniel, they swing on the gate, a wonderfully realistic reminder of kiwi kids just mucking about.

Then comes the surprise ending. Daniel emerges with gifts from Aunt Johanna: ‘some green string, a dead torch, a ripe banana and a picture of a camel.'

The final page of the text offers the only possibly comment:

                                                 ?

 

 

Note: In 2026 a picture book, Lillian and Lionel, written by the late Juliet Martin and illustrated by David Johnstone, was published by Quentin Wilson Publishing.

 Trevor Agnew 

30 May 2026 [Review 3840]

Lillian and Lionel  Juliet Martin                  David Johnstone
 

Lillian and Lionel                                     

Juliet Martin
Illustrator: David Johnstone
Quentin Wilson Publishing
Picture book, 32 pages (2026)
Paperback
ISBN 978 1 991354 07 5

 

‘Lillian looked out at the stars and dreamed of years to come,

when she would be a lion-trainer and Lionel a lion.’

 

It is a delight to welcome one more story from the talented pairing who brought us the beloved New Zealand classic Does Daniel Wilmott Tell Lies? (1991).  Lillian and Lionel is a gentle fable with a sting in its tail.

 

Lillian is an idealistic young girl with strong ambitions, not only for herself but also for her cat.

Lionel is Lillian’s cat although he would reject any suggestion of being owned. An independent feline, Lionel’s dream is to do a bit of quiet sleeping in the sun. In fact, Lionel is sound asleep in almost every picture in the book.

 

Juliet Martin’s cheerful tale, told in smoothly-paced verse, has Lillian working hard at turning Lionel into a full-blown, circus-performing lion. She teaches by demonstrating circus-lion behaviour: climbing, frowning, dancing, roaring and creeping.

 

‘Lillian crept a cunning creep, for that’s what lions do,

and then she turned to Lionel to see what he could do.

“Creep! Lionel, creep,” she said. But Lionel would not.’

 

Not only will Lionel not creep; he also will not climb, frown, dance, or roar. The recurring chorus of ‘But Lionel would not’ greets every effort by Lillian, whether she is roaring in the bathtub or leaping from a tree.

Lillian finally concedes defeat but there is a delightfully witty twist at the end of the story.

As Lionel puts it, ‘There’s a future for us two.’’

 

This book’s large format gives David Johnstone a splendid opportunity to portray this battle of wits. Lillian dominates each picture with her enthusiastic portrayals of lion behaviour, flouncing, snarling and frowning with gusto. Even better are Lionel’s displays of feline dumb insolence. When he is not sleeping, he is gazing out at the reader with disdain.

 

The detail in each richly coloured illustration adds to the fun. Lillian’s room is decked with circus posters and she even has a trumpet ready under her bed. Lionel’s dream of mice and cream floats in a thought-bubble above his comatose head. When Lillian bellows, birds rocket up into the sky. Every picture is an exaggerated delight.

 

Lillian and Lionel is a perfect pairing of words and illustrations, ideal for reading aloud - if you can keep Lionel awake.

             

Trevor Agnew 

6 June 2026  [Review 3838]