Children’s stories written in Te Reo Māori

This page links to some books aimed at Te Reo Māori readers. Many are available in both Māori and English.

Beginner readers

CoverKei te pēhea koe? (How are you feeling?) Tracy Duncan
Learn to ask and answer the question “How are you feeling?”.
Ōku tae Māori (My Māori colours) Tracy Duncan
Introduces colours with illustrations of plants, birds and animals. Also Ōku auaha Māori (My Māori shapes)
Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles Raina Fowlds
A little girl is excited about her bath because it means her Nanny and Koro's visit is near and because she loves bubbles. In English with Te Reo Māori sentences.
Kei Hea a Spot? (Where’s Spot?) Eric Hill
Try and find Spot in this lift-the-flap story.
Tutu Taniwha Robyn Kahukiwa
Meet Tutu Taniwha, in this fun Māori and English book about a baby taniwha. Part Two is Tutu Taniwha fun.
Te Ra (The Sun) Kate Lynch
Count and see how this seed turns into a tree with help from Te Ra (the sun).
CoverKo wai tōku ingoa? (What is my name?) Gillian May
Everyone in the family greets the birthday boy in a pet name but he just wants them to learn his real one!
Mahiara (Roadworks) Sally Sutton
See how a road is constructed in this rhyming story.
Ōku Kākahu (My clothes) Manu Te Awa
A boy puts on his clothes and is ready to face the day. This and the other simple board books in this series are great introductions to simple Te Reo vocabulary and have English translations inside the back cover.

Junior fiction

CoverA Tāne mē āna tamariki (The children of Tane) Ron Bacon
Describes Tane, god of the forest, who planted the trees and created the birds and animals which live there. Find other books in the Waiatarua Myths series.
Te kete harakeke (The woven flax kete) Angie Belcher
Rawiri’s class is visiting the Whirinaki Forest and his grandmother has given him a scruffy old kete in which to collect treasures. But what treasures does she actually mean? By the end of his trip Rawiri has learnt that not all treasures can be carried in a kete.
Te haere hokohoko a witiwitipū (Witchy goes shopping) Dianne Boles
It’s Witchy’s birthday so she decides to make some special party food but the cupboard is bare, and she can’t remember the magic word to restock it.
CoverNga raukura rima tekau ma rima (Fifty five feathers) Benjamin Brown
Pukeko is worried about her friend Gecko being cold in the winter. She seeks advice from a wise old tree who tells her to make Gecko a cloak of fifty five feathers to keep him warm.
Tarakihana pakupaku (The little tractor) Joy Cowley
Now that the family farm has been sold, a new owner is needed for this special little tractor which sits at a local car yard gathering dust. Each time the tractor is sold, the owner returns it because it keeps breaking down. Until at last the son of the farmer, now a grown man, discovers the tractor of his youth and buys it for his new farm. Illustrated by Gavin Bishop.
He tamaiti nō Aotearoa (Child of Aotearoa) Melanie Drewery
A child looks back through the ages to the river, mountain and waka of their spiritual home.
The Nanny Mihi series Melanie Drewery
Read about the lives of Nanny Mihi and her mokopuna.
CoverNgā kahumoe o te ngeru (The Cat’s pyjamas) Catherine Foreman
Cat has a pair of pyjamas for every night of the week, and they all affect his crazy dreams.
Tekiteora, kei hea ō hū (Oh hogwash, Sweet Pea) Ngareta Gabel
Sweet Pea is always losing her shoes. On Monday a family of ants carries her shoes outside and uses them as a canoe. On Tuesday a bird borrows them because his feet are cold. What happens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
He kōrero hi īka (A fishing story) Dawn McMillan
Jasie has waited weeks to go fishing with his koro. Now the day has finally arrived and the fish are biting. Koro has taught Jasie well and he knows what to do, even when faced with a difficult challenge.
Manu haututu (Magpie Mischief) June Peka
Pop’s vege garden is growing well until someone gives him a pet magpie. Instead of putting the magpie into a cage, he ends up having to build a cage for his veges, and himself!
Kei hea taku pōtae? (Where’s Koro’s hat?) Kerehi Waiariki
After looking everywhere, Koro finally finds his old fishing hat.

Older fiction

CoverWhakaeke i ngā ngaru : e whā tino pūrākau (Riding the waves) Gavin Bishop
Contains four Māori myths, including Maui finds his family, Maui and the goddess of fire, Hatupatu and the birdwoman and Rata and his waka. These myths are simply and yet elegantly written.
Ngā rongoā a Koro (Koro’s medicine) Melanie Drewery
Koro seems to have an unappetising remedy for everything, from blisters to blocked noses. But could his enthusiasm for Māori rongoa (medicine) turn out to be contagious? Includes brief factual information on Māori herbal remedies.
CoverMatatuhi Robyn Kahukiwa
Mata was adopted into a Pakeha family and knows very little about her Māori heritage. But then one day Mata’s class visits the museum. What she discovers there will change her life forever.
He kōrero mō Maui (Legends of Maui) Jason Te Puia
Maui Slows the Sun and Maui Battles Tuna Roa the Giant Eel are re-told in the style of comicbook superheroes.
Te Waka (The waka) Jean Prior
A New Zealand retelling of the Noah’s Ark story, also includes counting.
Te Mere (The mere) Mokana Potae Reedy
A magical mere takes three children and their dog on a journey through time in this novel recommended for primary and intermediate school level. Followed up by two sequels — Te mura a Tangaroa and Te whenua kauruki.

If you’d like to read more in Te Reo Māori: