The legend of Māui has been reinvented for a whole new generation of Kiwi children in How Māui Fished Up the North Island (Upstart Press) the first title in the ‘Tales of Aotearoa’ series. Who better to do that than Donovan Bixley, one of the country’s best-loved illustrators of children’s books? In this fresh retelling, Donovan applies his unique twists and trademark humour to this much-treasured story. “Initially I turned down the offer to write and illustrate a book on Māui,” says Donovan. “He’s such an important part of Pacific culture and I felt didn’t have the knowledge or the mana to take on this legendary figure. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to bring my own interpretation.” Māui is reimagined as a cheeky younger brother, on the type of hilarious fishing trip with the whanau that will be familiar to many Kiwi youngsters. “I wanted my book to focus on the part of Māui who is tinihanga and pōtiki – the smallest brother and cheeky trickster. He’s the type of character a lot of children can connect with and I hope they are going to really love reading this book because it has a lot of attitude in it.” Underneath the fun, is a real desire to honour the cultural significance and importance of Māui. Donovan worked under the guidance of Dr Darryn Joseph, who also translated the te reo edition, along with Keri Opai. “Working with Darryn really opened my eyes to some of the deeper layers and meaning behind Māui’s story. Even though my version is aimed at young readers, there are a lot of other layers of Māui’s story woven in.” Donovan hopes his book will give readers insight into a new side of Māui they haven’t seen before. “I absolutely adored illustrating this book. Every day on this project was like escaping to wonderful place when the world was fresh and colourful and new. I hope that it’s a world readers will want to return to again and again too.”
Donovan Bixley is a household name for anyone with young children. He’s illustrated more than 100 books, published in 31 countries. His work has been awarded as a writer, illustrator and book designer. Dr Darryn Joseph is a lecturer in te reo at Massey university. He has authored over 23 books; mainly textbooks and chapter books for Māori immersion education. He has won the Huia Short Stories Award for te reo Māori and the LIANZA Librarian Te Kura Pounamu Award for "most distinguished contribution to literature for children and young adults written in Te Reo Māori.