Robyn Kahukiwa

Award-winning artist and children's book writer and illustrator Robyn Kahukiwa has been a prominent figure in Māori children's literature since the 1980s.

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1938, Robyn trained as a commercial artist and later moved to New Zealand at the age of nineteen. Robyn is of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi and Whanau-a-Ruataupare descent on her mother's side.

Robyn's work often deals with themes of colonialism and the dispossession of indigenous people, motherhood and blood-ties, social custom and mythology.  She gained prominence in New Zealand in the 1980s after her exhibition Wahine Toa (strong women) which toured the country.This exhibition drew on Maori myth and symbolism.

Robyn won the 1994 Young People's Non-fiction Award (now known as Elsie Locke Award) for Paikea.

By this author

Te Tamaiti me te Aihe

"Tērā tētahi tamaiti e noho ana i te taha o te moana. He nui tōna aroha mō te moana, ā, i ngā rā e āhei ana ka kauhoe ia ... me kī, i te nuinga o ngā rā. He kaikauhoe tino kaha ia.

I tētahi rā, kauhoe ana te tamaiti, ka kite atu ia i te wai i waho rā e tiehutia ana. Ka whai whakaaro ia kia whakatata atu tirotiro ai."

Nā Kiwa Hammond te whakamāoritanga.

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The Boy and the Dolphin

When a boy helps free a dolphin tangled in a discarded fishing net, they develop an unexpected friendship.

"Once there was a boy who lived by the sea. He loved the sea and he swam in it every day he could ... which was most days.

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Illustration

The Boy and the Dolphin

When a boy helps free a dolphin tangled in a discarded fishing net, they develop an unexpected friendship.

"Once there was a boy who lived by the sea. He loved the sea and he swam in it every day he could ... which was most days.

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Te Tamaiti me te Aihe

"Tērā tētahi tamaiti e noho ana i te taha o te moana. He nui tōna aroha mō te moana, ā, i ngā rā e āhei ana ka kauhoe ia ... me kī, i te nuinga o ngā rā. He kaikauhoe tino kaha ia.

I tētahi rā, kauhoe ana te tamaiti, ka kite atu ia i te wai i waho rā e tiehutia ana. Ka whai whakaaro ia kia whakatata atu tirotiro ai."

Nā Kiwa Hammond te whakamāoritanga.

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Taranga

Taranga is the mother of Māui, a great cultural hero in the Māori creation narrative. Here Reina Kahukiwa recounts the birth of Māui seen through the eyes of Taranga.

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