Pretty amazed that Freestyle: the Israel Adesanya Story has made the shortlist of the 2023 NZ Children’s Book Awards in the non-fiction category. Never did I think I could reach this level but I’m grateful to have one of my books recognised this way. Not for the ego but because it means more people can…
I’ve been working with an awesome group of Niue young people and their families at Favona Primary School in MÄngere. This week we launched a collection of their writing in Vagahau Niue and English to celebrate Niue Language Week. I love how storytelling brings generations together. Check out the book here: https://readingwarrior.com/product/ko-au-ko-e-tama-niue/
I’ve spent the last two days in Napier and Hastings encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find out who they are through reading. Finished at Hastings Boys’ High School whose motto is Äkina. This motto was given to them by local iwi and is a call to paddlers who may be losing energy…
To celebrate Olympics year I asked Kiwi Olympians and Paralympians to write letters to young people sharing what they learned about “success” from their experiences in Tokyo. Then I got each letter illustrated by a different Kiwi children’s book illustrator and put them together in this new work, Standing In My Own Shoes. There’s letters…
I visited Papakura Intermediate today and it was so awesome sharing stories with these talented young people, showing them that reading can change people’s lives … even a book about rocks! And then to hear that the kids took books about rocks out from the library afterwards – that’s pretty cool.
