Hey guys I hope you’re coping okay with everything that’s going on. I just wanted to share some words of encouragement. During the summer I read a book called The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. I took lots of notes and I’m so glad I did because it’s helping me navigate through this…
My family went to Tokyo, Japan in the holidays. Everyone was excited to go see Tokyo Disneyland and Takeshita Street shopping, and the Shibuya Crossing. My only request was that we go and see live Sumo wrestling. I didn’t know anything about Sumo apart from it being two massive guys wrestling each other. But after…
What could we say to those who built a foundation for us while we still can? Rocky ‘Soul Man’ Johnson, father of Dwayne Johnson, passed away suddenly last week. “Say something good about me.” That’s what Dwayne thought his dad would want from him at his funeral. Here’s what he might have said … and…
I wanted to be a writer when I was a child but I didn’t believe in myself because I thought writers were famous people from places like LA and New York. Not David Riley from Mangere! One of my goals now is to encourage young people that those kinds of thoughts aren’t true. This term…
The New Zealand government announced earlier this year that it will soon be compulsory to teach New Zealand history in our schools. Every child in Germany learns about the Holocaust – the terrible atrocities which Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jewish people. “We teach every chapter of German history,” a German friend of…
It’s Tongan Language Week and I want to share with you a little about one of Tonga’s favourite heroes – Queen Salote. And how there are young people around us showing the same qualities Salote did … every day. Queen Salote is one of the most beloved leaders the Pacific has known. She was born…
Today I was blessed to be invited to St Mary MacKillop School in Mangere as their “Author of the Month.” The student librarians wrote to me asking if I could visit because they want their friends and peers to do more reading. I think it’s so awesome that these young people have so much love…
“Hi David. Just thought I would let you know about a mum who came in this morning to tell me about her son last night. He normally kind of grunts when she asks him about his day but last night he followed her around the house to relive your talk pretty much word by word. …
Today I did a writing workshop with students at Southern Cross Campus in Mangere. Here’s what some of the students thought about our time together: “I enjoyed learning the skill of using the newspaper into making a whole interesting story.” “It was fun making our own stories and plays because ours was funny and relatable.”…
This week sees the NZ release of the new Fast & Furious film, Hobbs & Shaw, starring Dwayne Johnson and his cousin, Roman Reigns. I’d like to share an amazing story with you about Roman, real name Joseph Anoa’i. I’ve just written a new book for young people about Joseph because his life story is…
Great day launching my new book about Yvette Williams in two communities: in Howick where Yvettte lived, with her family, and in Otara where Chad Robertson (illustrator) and I live and work, with our families.
It’s mental health month in Aotearoa and I’m thinking about mental strength as I read the children’s book, “The White Mouse”, with my daughter. It’s the story of Kiwi nurse, reporter and spy, Nancy Wake. In this week’s reading we learned about Nancy’s resilience and selflessness. Here’s a list of the things that happened to…
It’s mental health month in Aotearoa and I’m thinking about mental strength as I read the children’s book, “The White Mouse”, with my daughter. It’s the story of Kiwi nurse, reporter and spy, Nancy Wake. In our first reading we learned that Nancy’s husband was forced to join the French army to defend France from…
May is Mental Health Month in New Zealand and such an awesome theme to focus on. I’ve just started reading a book called “The White Mouse” with my daughter. It’s about Nancy Wake, a Kiwi nurse, reporter, rebel and spy who fought with the French Resistance during WW2. This is an inspirational lady, with incredible…
We’re nearly halfway through term one of the school year and it’s a good time to remind the young people we live and work with, and ourselves, that being successful isn’t about talent or gifts. It’s about learning, working with the right people and hard work. Kemba Walker is a basketball player. Kemba led his…
My youngest daughter enrolled in Auckland Libraries’ summer reading program back in early December. We started off well, reading every day for 20 minutes as a whole family 🙂 But then Christmas came and New Years and holidays away and we stopped reading as a family for a while. I’ve just finished reading two books…
Hey guys sorry about that last post – I thought I found a snazzy way to share a link but it came out all wrong! Anyway, happy new year to everyone. I started an open group on Facebook called The Reading Tribe. It’s a place where we can share the love of reading, whether it’s books,…
Do you guys sometimes get Impostor Syndrome? That’s that feeling you get when you start doubting yourself, about whether you can really do something and you’re just waiting for someone to catch you out and say “Faker!” To be honest, I get these thoughts sometimes when it comes to writing. I say things like this to…
Tonight I went to watch Rosalina by the Sau e Siva Creatives at Mangere Arts Centre. The guys adapted the story from a legend in my book, Samoan Heroes. It’s pretty cool seeing the way they took the story from off the page and brought it to life on stage with a celebration of Samoan culture,…
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.
Today I visited Wesley College and spoke to the students about dreaming big and how reading helps us discover amazing things about ourselves we never knew before.
Hey guys today I want to talk about something important we can learn from Goosebumps, Lani Wendt Young and the Tongan rugby league team. I went with my family to see the film Goosebumps 2 today. The effects were cool, the story was interesting and it featured my favourite Goosebumps villain, Slappy. But there was…
Some people think the only place you’ll see women at a racetrack is dressed in bikinis, waving start flags and spraying champagne on the winners. You won’t find Jodie Donovan doing any of that. She’s been drifting for more than a decade and is one of the best female drifters in the world. Jodie rode…
I had an incredible week in Raro this week. The Cook Islands Ministry of Education invited me to come and share in their literacy week celebrations. I visited lots of schools on Raro, talking to young people, and being inspired by them. This photo comes form a writing workshop I did with children at Nukutere…
This week I launched a new book Fanene Peter Maivia: Son of Samoa. It’s the first in a new series called Reading Legends. These are picture biographies of legendary Kiwi and Pasifika heroes.
Today I had an amazing experience at Kelston Boys High School in Auckland. I was asked to speak to two classes of year 13 boys about the awesomeness of reading. I started with my pepeha – “Tuhituhia te kite, kia marama rawa ki nga papa …” and I saw one of the boys sit…
Have you heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Level Up Challenge and the Kiki Challenge? Today I helped Kedgley Intermediate launch the Reading Chain Challenge. Children who sign up for it receive spot prizes along the way and special prizes when they’ve read 7 books. They’re also encouraged to tag 3 other people (family…
I’m working on a new book in the Pasifika Heroes series – Tokelau Heroes. Today my students performed a play about Lata, a legendary Tokelau hero. It was a show for children and was performed at Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau.
It’s Cook Islands Language Week and we’re celebrating by sharing a little about some of the inspirational people featured in my book Cook Islands Heroes. The aim of this book is to inspire Kuki Airani young people and anyone else who loves reading stories of people who overcame great challenges to achieve their goals in life. Today’s…
It’s Cook Islands Language Week and we’re celebrating by sharing a little about some of the inspirational people featured in my book Cook Islands Heroes. The aim of this book is to inspire Kuki Airani young people and anyone else who loves reading stories of people who overcame great challenges to achieve their goals in life. Today’s…
