For this assignment, we were asked to pick 10 Kiwi books that we really wanted for our library. The aim was to present our wants to a panel, and why we needed these books in our collection. The school setting is loosely based on my own school.
Setting and Users: My setting
is a decile 5 primary school library in urban West Auckland. The community is
diverse with 40% pakeha, 15% Maori, 15% Pacifica, 20% Asian, and 10% other
ethnicities including Middle Eastern, Russian and Czech. The current library
has lots of children’s stories with white families, teddy bears and dinosaurs,
and simply not enough diversity represented in it’s collection.
The children all have 45
minutes allocated to their class each week, and the library is open for half of
lunchtime everyday and is open to all. The library holds some lunchtime events
and ‘reading to’ sessions a few times a term. Children at the school are
readers, however writing can be a struggle for many. Fiction and picture books
are very popular amongst our students, but the non-fiction section is lagging
behind a bit. There is a focus this year to promote this section.
Teachers at the school
are beginning their journey of integrating more Te Reo and Te Ao Māori into
their lessons and curriculum planning. Diversity is a central theme to the
school as they celebrate Matariki, Chinese New Year, and Diwali every year with
whole school celebrations, alongside Pasifika language weeks. Environmental
themes are always integrated into the year long curriculum.
(NB: I have only chosen
books for a primary school, as I am a teacher in one and want to focus on books
for my students and school library.)
Fiction
What
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Tipene, T. (2016). Māui - Sun Catcher. Oratia:
Oratia Media.
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Where
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This is a modern retelling of the traditional myth ‘How Maui
Slowed the Sun’ by Peter Gossage. I will place this story in our fiction section,
as our children will recognise and make connections to the older versions
which can sometimes be lost in the non-fiction section. Our students will be
impressed with the vibrant text and illustrations in the new version.
Our current collection does not have many bilingual texts, and
this will appeal to many of our school’s whānau, and might inspire non-Māori
speaking homes to have the option to read it in te reo, as well as encourage
the teachers to give it a go! Students who are fluent could be the kaiako
(teacher), and read it to the class as well.
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Why
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This book has a superhero appeal which links to popular culture
currently. We are in the process of building up our high interest books, and
this one will fit right in. The hardcover book is sturdy, so it will survive
general wear and tear, and for $25 is great value for money. The
illustrations are vibrant and energetic, alongside the text which uses
colloquial terms and typical kiwi phrases such as “gas up the car”.
With the NZ Statistics Te Kupenga 2013 survey showing
that the use of te reo Māori is growing, from 42% of Māori having some
ability to speak te reo, to 55% in 2013, having a collection of bilingual
books is important for our community, and our nation to continue to have
texts available in both languages.
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What
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Aiono-Iosefa, S. (2007). The Pipi Swing. Birkenhead: Reed
Publishing.
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Where
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Many families in our school have only solo parents due to death,
separation or divorce, and there are not many quality books which normalise
or address this. However, this special book does. The Pipi Swing tells
of a whānau still grieving the loss of the father, but how through family,
life can go on. The family is Samoan, and our collection is lacking in good
quality books being told through a Samoan lens.
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Why
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This story represents a solo parent family excellently as the
text handles the tough subjects of grieving and a single mum with the perfect
combination of delicacy and a matter-of-factness.
The main character, who’s affectionate nickname is Sweetpea (12
years old), lives with just her lawyer mum as her dad was killed a few years
back by a drunk driver. The book gently shows the grieving process that her
and her mum went through during that hard time, but how dad is still a part
of their lives with daily traditions like kissing his photo. The main focus
of the story involves family life and grandparents, and how life moves on
while still being connected to our loved ones. The illustrations are gorgeous
in this book, and the characters’ emotions are expressed wonderfully on each
page. There are also pictures that our students can relate to including the
beach and the Pak’n’Save grocery bags, our local supermarket.
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What
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Szekely, C. (2016). Rona. Wellington: Huia Publishers.
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Where
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Our current collection is lacking in good quality beginner
chapter books written by Kiwis for students who are transitioning to harder
texts. Rona is a funny, quirky character in this beginning-to-read chapter
book. She lives with just her grandparents, and no explanation is given for
this. I like the fact that this is presented as a normal living situation, as
it is for many children in our community, many of whom do live with grandparents,
as well as their parents.
Rona is Māori, and it’s through her eyes that the story is told.
Again, I am wanting to build up our collection of stories told through a
range of diverse cultures, and this is another fantastic addition to our
collection.
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Why
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Rona is only $15, an excellent price. The cover is
eye-catching, showing the rambunctiousness of her character. The text can be
quirky, coining terms such as ‘liar from Kaitaia’ which students will relate
to, and it is just a jolly good read with lots of humour, and real life
interactions with her cousin Jessie, which do not always go to plan.
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What
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Pulford, E. (2016). Rasmus. Auckland: Scholastic NZ
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Where
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I am wanting to include as many award winning books into our
collection as possible, and Rasmas was a winner of the Storylines
Notable Book List 2017. This heartfelt story explores boys and their
emotions, and I think our collections can always do with more of that! There
is a beautiful line when Danny is saying goodbye to his pet goat Rasmus: “As he
did, it felt as if he was saying goodbye to a part of himself.” We need more
examples of children, especially boys, processing emotions in a healthy way,
and this is a prime example.
This book also explores the tension for children who have had to
move from a country location to an urban environment (or vice versa). Kiwi
kids have many family connections to both the city and the country, and it’s
great to see a story addressing this.
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Why
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This book has exquisite illustrations of human emotions with
Danny’s down cast eyes when he is saying goodbye to Rasmus, to his sadness
showing how lonely he is in the city, to his joy when seeing his dad again
after a long time. The illustrations in this story could stand alone without
the text, and is perfect for our juniors who are taught to ‘read the
pictures’ when a text is beyond their level. It is a lovely story which shows
some human emotions and truths.
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What
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Clarke, M. (2016). Tu Meke Tūī! Auckland: Mary Egan
Publishing
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Where
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Admittedly our collection does already have lots of books on
Native NZ birds, but what stands this apart is that this book is a work of
art in itself. It is a fantastic book to have on display in our children’s
picture books section, as children and teachers will be drawn to it
immediately due to its dynamic presentation. The art gives it a fresh take on
a common subject. Our community does have a graffiti problem, and this book
can show spray painting being used for good as an art form.
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Why
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This book is great value for money, as it is a board book which
is sturdy and will be a long lasting part of the library. The book covers
themes of difference and being oneself, as well as friendships between an
unlikely pair. I like the added feature of the ‘Did you spot…?’ section at
the back where students are encouraged to go back and find other native
creatures from Aotearoa.
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Non-Fiction
What
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Grace, P. (2015). Haka. Wellington: Huia Publishers.
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Where
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The haka is an
important part of our kiwi identity, and just a plain awesome part of our
rugby games. This beautifully illustrated book gives a historical background
to the haka in story format, and tells of Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha and
how he came to compose the haka. Many New Zealanders would be ignorant about
the meaning and background of the haka, and this will give explanations to
our children and their families, many of whom might not know either.
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Why
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The warrior cover will
be of instant appeal, especially to our boys, some of whom are reluctant
readers. The illustrations are beautiful pieces of art, with fine details
right down to the dirt in the fingernails. The book encompasses some te reo,
and again this normalises and exposes all our children to New Zealand’s Māori
community and the importance of continuing to promote the language.
Many Māori identify
their language and culture as a taonga (gift) to pass on to future
generations, and this gift can be extended to all New Zealanders by giving
more understanding of the culture, and of the haka. One of our schools aims
is to continue to build up and bring pride to our Māori students, and I think
this book does a fantastic job of both, while also being a book that other
students can relate to.
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What
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Riley, D. (2015). Samoan Heroes. Auckland: Reading
Warrior
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Where
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As our library already owns We are the Rock, (2012), Tongan
Heroes (2016) and Cook Island Heroes (2017), Samoan Heroes will
complete our collection in this series. It is relevant to our school as we
have a strong and proud Samoan community, and I want this to be represented
in our library. This book will be categorised as non-fiction but I will
display it and discuss it at our whole school assemblies so that students
know where to find it, as I believe it will be in hot demand due to its
relevance, and to the connections to our students, both Samoan and other. I
believe our reluctant readers will be drawn to this book, and the others in
the series, due to the concise biographies on a great selection of inspiring
people.
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Why
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This is another Storylines Notable Book Award Winner 2016. Due
to the smallness of NZ, and our 6 degrees of separation, many of the public
figures in the book have lived in New Zealand and are well known to most of
our students. Samoan Heroes has so many people of relevance to our
children and community as it showcases actors, rappers, politicians,
academics, and both national and international sports stars. This book has a
unique style of seamlessly weaving both ancient myths with current
biographies, and it gives a sense of pride to the Samoan community.
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What
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Harper, G. (2016). Gladys goes to War. Auckland: Penguin
Random House NZ
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Where
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Whilst our library collection holds many war stories about
males, the female department is considerably lacking. This story is a breath
of fresh air telling of Gladys, a female mechanic, who shows determination
and grit and a drive to be herself during World War One. This book adds
nicely to our other stories of Glyn Harpers, including Le Quesnoy: The
Story of the Town that New Zealand Saved (2012), Jim’s Letters, (2014),
and Roly the ANZAC Donkey (2015).
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Why
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I love books that encourage challenging social norms, and having
the courage to be oneself, and this book is another fantastic example of
that, whilst having the added bonus of being a true story. It is also a
winner of the Storylines Notable Book Awards 2016. The illustrations by Jenny
Cooper are outstanding and mostly light hearted, a hard balance for a book on
war, but she has achieved it. This book reads like a narrative, but has the
added bonus of more historical information on the real Gladys Sandford on the
very last page for students who are curious to learn more.
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What
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McCauley, D. (2014). Mōtītī Blue and the Oil Spill.
Tauranga: Mauāo Publishing.
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Where
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Our school has a big environmental focus each year, and this
fantastic non-fiction book will be an asset to our school due to its real
life situation. Its particular focus on one key character, Mōtītī Blue, a
real little blue penguin who survived the Rena oil spill in 2011, gives the
added benefit of seeing the actual effect of the devastating accident on one
of our sea creatures. With it’s narrative style of writing, combined with
facts in stand out boxes alongside the story, this book makes an impact.
Living in Auckland with so many beaches available to us, our children have a
natural understanding about the effects this could have on our day to day
living and environment.
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Why
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This is another award winning book, with the bilingual text
being a fantastic addition to this story as it continues to teach and
normalise te reo Māori. There is so much information conveyed in this book,
from the inside cover pages that give a visual representation of the 365
penguins returned safely back into the wild, to the boxes of facts on each
page covering the smaller details of the rescue. It is well laid out and easy
to follow, whilst still being visually appealing.
Studies show that children can respond to and take action for
their environment and can influence their families and peers to make
sustainable changes that will impact on the future (Davis pg.22), and I
believe that books that teach us about man made disasters will have a great
impact on our future generations and will hopefully prevent further
catastrophes like this.
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What
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McCartney, T. (2017). A Kiwi Year: Twelve Months in the Life
of New Zealand’s Kids. Auckland: EK Books.
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Where
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This book will be displayed in our junior non-fiction and will
be beneficial to junior and middle school teachers at the beginning of the
year. I believe this is an excellent book to compare and contrast with ideas
that are traditionally kiwi, compared to new traditions coming through, and
how all families are similar, and yet different. It is unique in that it
presents a vast array of different foods, activities and holidays in our
country during certain times of the year, including Chinese New Year, Diwali,
and Matariki. This is a great book that incorporates many different
traditions and ideas about what it is to be “kiwi”, and is very
representative and accepting of our diverse community and how that has
changed in the past 40 years.
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Why
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I like how there is so much variety of tradition all captured in
one book. The text and pictures are simple, yet capture the eye, and the text
and illustrations are designed well in the layout without feeling cluttered.
The text is also fun to read with different colours and size for words of
importance.
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References
Davis, Julie M.. Young Children and the
Environment : Early Education for Sustainability, Cambridge University
Press, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/opt/detail.action?docID=564447.
Stats New Zealand Tatauranga Aotearoa. (n.d). Te
Kupenga 2013 (English) - Corrected. Retrieved from http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/maori/TeKupenga_HOTP13.aspx
The Daily Cafe. (n.d). Three Ways to
Read a Book. Retrieved from https://www.thedailycafe.com/articles/3-ways-to-read-a-book
