English & Māori rhymes
The ambition for the book was to co-create modern, relevant and inclusive rhymes with our tamariki.
For rhymes to be representative and relevant for our tamariki today, it felt important for the book to be in both English and te reo Māori with the hope that the languages side by side would help kids learn to read both English and te reo Māori.
I am an advocate for more resources and funding to go towards increasing access and use of Māori language. My hope through the pukapuka is that this small exposure to the Māori language can increase basic communication and foster a curiosity for our younger (and hopefully older) generations to learn more about the Māori language and culture.
With the intention to respectfully represent te reo Māori in this book I have engaged a number of professionals to support the process:
- Professional Māori translator, Tamati Waaka
- 3 professional Māori translator reviewers/proof readers
- Bilingual school teacher
- Cultural sensitivity advisor, Johannah Kātene-Burge
My te reo journey
I want to acknowledge I am at the beginning of my te reo journey and still have a lot to learn about the language and the Māori culture.
I was lucky to learn some te reo Māori at primary school and intermediate with my teachers embracing and celebrating the language and collaborating closely with the bilingual unit at my intermediate.
Useful links I’ve found on my journey so far -
Māori culture and Tikanga practices for the workplace
Ways to incorporate more Māori in your day to day
Te reo rhymes
Translating a creative text like a rhyme book can be a tricky balance. In the end, there were many great minds collaborating on the problem and we’ve tried to find a middle ground between creating an accurate translation, whilst keeping the rhythm of the original rhyme where possible. The English rhymes have been put first with te reo second as a translation. Although they don’t rhyme, we’ve tried to keep the rhythm and add in alliteration and other methods of playfulness in the rhymes, where possible. At times, this means a few words from the English rhyme will not be included in te reo Māori with the intention to be true to the original rhyme’s rhythm in the translation.
The hope is that we can see the languages side by side and learn as many new words and phrases in both languages through the rhymes. It’s something I would love to spend more time on and continue to learn and improve - please reach out if you’re interested.
Matariki rhyme
After a lot of conversations and research, we have chosen to represent 9 stars in this Matariki cluster to acknowledge both the seven and nine kōrero around Matariki. We wanted to create this rhyme and illustration to celebrate Matariki as one nation, Aotearoa. Te Papa has a really useful explainer about the different kōrero surrounding Matariki and I couldn’t put it in better words. You can read about it by clicking here.
