New book: Reading All Stars – Alena Saili

I’m making a new book about Black Ferns Sevens try-scoring machine Michaela Blyde. It’s called Strike Hard! The illustrator is Sarah Trolle and Sarah is a teacher too! The korero that goes with this particular picture is that the Black Ferns Sevens team see themselves as a waka, that leaves mana in its wake. “The…

I’m so happy this book has been shortlisted in the NZ Children’s Book Awards. It means more children will read Alistair Te Ariki Campbell’s awesome poem and get to know his work. Sarah’s illustrations are so beautiful! Yu can purchase a copy here: https://readingwarrior.com/product/poem-for-ataahua/

This year Chad Sta-Krucial Robertson and I have been working on an awesome project with the Tuvalu Auckland Community Trust. We made 8 bilingual Tuvaluan children’s books, one representing each island of Tuvalu, and today the books were launched as part of Tuvalu Language Week celebrations. Each book comes with an audio version as well…

I’m working with young writers at Flatbush School this term and today we had an inspiring visit by Indira Stewart. Indira is an award winning journalist and an amazing role model for our young Pasifika writers. “Your story is so important,” she told them with tears welling up. “Someone needs to hear your story so…

Need a book about Samoan history and culture for children? We got you! 43 Samoan children living in Sāmoa, NZ, and around the world, are now published authors and illustrators after the launch of our book ‘Sāmoa’ today. We launched the tusi at Robert Louis Stevenson School in Apia. One of my favourite parts was…

I had an awesome visit to Sylvia Park School today sharing important messages of encouragement with them. Here’s what the school posted about it on their Facebook page: Today our Sylvia Park learners were truly inspired! We were lucky to have author David Riley visit and speak with our Year 4–6 and Year 7–8 students….