Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai
The ideas in our book come almost entirely from Kerehi, our youngest son. I suppose they stemmed out of conversations we’d been having since he could talk, and probably before. One day, I just sat down and tried to remember all the things he’d said over the years about friendship and family and atua and Donald Trump. I wanted to remember these things before they disappeared out of my brain. Slowly I organised them and re-organised them in an order that seemed to draw out his logic – his way of making sense of our world, and his experience. I can’t say that the sentences in the book are word for word the way Kerehi said them. But I hope they capture the essence of his thinking, without too much imposition of my own ideas. Just like parenting, I guess.
listen to some fun radio interviews with Kerehi, Tokerau and me
Beautiful story told by mother and son duo
RNZ Afternoons, 1:10 pm on 15 September 2023
Tokerau Brown on Paku Manu Ariki
Pacific Days 531, 15 September 2023
Manatawa: Michaela Keeble
Radio Waatea, 4 October 2023
RNZ Afternoons, 1:10 pm on 15 September 2023
Tokerau Brown on Paku Manu Ariki
Pacific Days 531, 15 September 2023
Manatawa: Michaela Keeble
Radio Waatea, 4 October 2023
we've had some special reviews, here's a few!
"A new kind of book for a new kind of world," Claire Maybe in The Spinoff
"Funny, canny and profound, it’s one of the best and brightest kids’ books of 2023," Dionne Christian in Kete: New books from Aotearoa
"I am wondering what it would be like if we all took time to write our own self portraits, and to feel good about ourselves, about what we like to do and be, about liking some things and disliking others, and to ponder the questions still bubbling inside us as we find our own courage and strength. The book is special and it is a book to share." Paula Green in Poetry Box: A New Zealand Poetry Page for Children
"Funny, canny and profound, it’s one of the best and brightest kids’ books of 2023," Dionne Christian in Kete: New books from Aotearoa
"I am wondering what it would be like if we all took time to write our own self portraits, and to feel good about ourselves, about what we like to do and be, about liking some things and disliking others, and to ponder the questions still bubbling inside us as we find our own courage and strength. The book is special and it is a book to share." Paula Green in Poetry Box: A New Zealand Poetry Page for Children
how this book began...
"The fact that it’s become an actual published kids book feels quite bizarre and miraculous. I shared the words I’d written down with our friends – Cassandra Barnett and her son Izuba then turned the words into a handmade pukapuka – just like a kids book, with a sentence on each page, and collage and ink illustrations. They gave it to Kerehi for his birthday. Suddenly we realised we had written a book." From a Q&A at Read NZ
