Poem for Ataahua

Spent the morning at Flat Bush School with inspirational alumni Willie Maea, Samson Vaotuua, Greg Va’afusuaga, Jay Paniani and Dr Julienne Faletau as they returned to visit their old school. The Writers Group of children interviewed these tuakana for a book of inspiration that will be called Flat Bush Forever.

I did a talk at Ashburton Intermediate today – told the children a story about how a book about rocks changed someone’s life. After the talk these four boys came sprinting into the library asking where the books on rocks are.  ‘Why do you want to read those?’ I asked the boys. ‘We want knowledge,’…

Awesome time at Kedgley Intermediate School today celebrating A Piece of Myself – a book written by these talented young people. The kaupapa of our pukapuka is to praise our beloved home South Auckland.

I’m really proud of this book because it celebrates some of the greatest athletes from the islands of Oceania! You’ll be inspired by Valerie Adams, the unstoppable Tongan-Kiwi shot putter. You’ll cheer for Jerry Tuwai, the two-time Olympic gold medallist from Fiji. You’ll be amazed by Lisa Carrington, the first Māori woman to win an…

Kinaua Ewels is a Kiribati-Kiwi primary school teacher who shared an amazing story about her grandfather, Konererio, with me. He was a ‘Coastwatcher’ during World War II and saved many people’s lives because of his bravery. Kinaua asked if we could work together to make a children’s book based on that story and here it…

Much alofa to all those parents who make the tough choice to move their families to places so different to where they’ve come from, just so their children can have amazing futures. This is Sola who attends Nelson Girls College. We worked on a book together in Auckland with other Tuvaluan young people. Now she’s…