When the pandemic came, schools and libraries closed and for many of our young people, literacy levels dropped dramatically. This has made school even harder for them than it already was and impacts on their ability to participate as confident people in society. The purpose of the Kāinga Pukapuka project is to help alleviate this by gifting packs of books to children so they can start or add to their own home library.
Please note – books bought here are intended to be gifted to families in the Auckland area so they can add to, or begin a home library. If you would like to buy books for your school library or organisation please go to the Books page. If you would like to buy a Kāinga Pukapuka pack for a family outside of Auckland please email me so we can plan that together.
Will today’s young people really read books in this device overloaded time? Yes they will, most definitely! The key is seeing themselves and things they value in the books. The books in the Kāinga Pukapuka project are specifically chosen so that children from different cultural groups can experience the thrill of reading books they can engage and connect with.
A whakataukī says: “Mā te huruhuru te manu ka rere.” (By feathers the bird will fly.) This can also mean, give the bird the feathers it needs to fly. That’s what we want to do for our young people with these home libraries.
