Storytelling is powerful

So awesome today that I got to speak to children at Our Lady Star of the Sea School. This week is the school’s Book Week and they have lots of activities happening to promote reading. That’s a great school man!

They’re known for their rugby but young men at Hastings Boys’ High School are readers too. It was inspiring sharing with them today as part of a Read NZ Writers in Schools visit.

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…

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.

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/

The first book in Reading Warrior’s new series Oceania Heritage is Niue, published in 2024 to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Niue Constitution Act 1974. Written and illustrated by children of Niue who live in Aotearoa, Niue and other parts of the world, these are, in the children’s words, their expressions of…