Our Normal is a series of intimate and honest conversations with some of New Zealand’s most talented Paralympians. The athletes tell us about the books, food, music, people, places and taonga they love. They share the challenges they face living with disabilities, and the ways disabilities enrich their lives. And they talk about the assumptions and…
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…
The Reading Tribe is a new book I’ve made where I ask some of New Zealand’s most successful people to share the books that have travelled with them through life. UFC champion Israel Adesanya found safety in the school library from bullies when he was younger and he was inspired to dream big by reading…
X-factor Kiwi kids at St Francis School in Pt Chev. These Tongan children are so proud their brother is on the front cover photo of Rise of the To’a. By the way these children are all siblings … 4 sets of twins … from one family! “You have made a huge impression on children and…
Ngā Tamaiti Rangatira is a collection of writing by young people from the Tipu Whare program at Panama Road School. I helped these rangatahi share their thoughts about life, their dreams and the special people they admire. Look how proud they are to be honoured and celebrated as they should be as children of chiefs!
‘I will always remember the last words my parents said to me before I came here: “Don’t forget who you are.” I’m proud of who I am. I’m proud to be Sāmoan.’ ‘O le ā ‘ou manatua pea ‘upu mulimuli a oʻu matua iā te aʻu ‘ae ‘ou te leʻi sau i’inei: “Aua neʻi e…
What a blessing to work with these beautiful Tongan children making a book about how proud they are to be Tongan. The book is bilingual (Tongan and English). The stories they’ve written demonstrate their immense pride in being Tongan. You’ll read about the importance of family and lotu, their favourite Tongan foods and clothing, their…
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…
I’ve received a number of emails from librarians over the years asking if I could make some books for girls. I’m so glad I got to make some books featuring inspirational Kiwi women such as Lisa Carrington, Stacey Fluhler (Waaka) and Kamelia Lino Zarka. Here’s another 3 books to this series of remarkable Wāhine Toa!…
“So you want our blessing to publish stories for children? First you have to play me in table tennis. Then you have to listen to me make fun of you with a song.” Thank you Papa Tangatakino – first for schooling me in table tennis and then allowing me to create children’s books from Mangaia…
Today we had another launch for the book, Rise of the To’a, the MMT story. This launch was held for the Tongan community at Lesieli Tonga church in Mangere. It’s been an amazing blessing to be part of this work and to learn a little about Tongan culture. A big malo ‘aupito to ‘Alisi Tatafu…
I spent this week visiting schools in Wellington to encourage young people to read. My main message is that books are so powerful they can change your life, as they did for people like Dr Ben Carson and Steven Adams. Whatever your talent, reading helps it grow bigger. There’s a lot of passionate librarians and…
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…
Today ‘Alisi Tatafu and I launched our children’s book Rise of the To’a (the MMT story) online in Tonga. We would have been there if it wasn’t for COVID but there’s still so much to be thankful for, especially learning how beautiful Tongan culture is through this whole process.
Massive arohas and shout out to Indira Stewart and the team at Radio NZ for hosting our team of Flat Bush student writers and recording them reading their stories. An awesome experience for all of us! #flatbushwriters #readNZ #writingwarriors
Today we launch a new book in the bilingual Pasifika Superheroes series: Who Stole My Taro? Taro is one of the most popular foods in the Samoa. You can bake it and eat it with palusami. You can boil it and soak it in coconut cream. You can even fry it and make taro chips….
Today ‘Alisi Tatafu and I launched our children’s book Rise of the To’a (the MMT story) at Mangere College as part of Tongan Language Week celebrations. The book even had its own cake! Why Mangere College? ‘Alisi is a current teacher and Dean at MC, and MC is the school I went to. Seek the…
I’m working with young writers at Flatbush School this term and today we had an inspiring visit by Raymond Sagapolutele. Raymond is a professional photographer and an amazing role model for our young Pasifika storytellers. “You are orators and your story is important,” Raymond said. “A lot of times us adults don’t listen to children,…
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…
Hey family if you want some reading material to inspire your kids and keep up their reading levels during the lock down, you could try Reading Warrior eBooks. They’re just $2.95 each during this time and family friendly. How about this book: Samoan Heroes – 38 stories of achievers who have Samoan ancestry. It includes…
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.”…
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.
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.
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…
