Taniwha i Warewaretia, Te/The Forgotten Taniwha
  • Published: 30 August 2022
  • ISBN: 9780143779469
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00

Taniwha i Warewaretia, Te/The Forgotten Taniwha

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As the taniwha Ngākau Pono sleeps, big machines come, tall buildings rise and aeroplanes take off and land. Ngākau Pono has been forgotten by his people, until something happens and he begins to stir...

Trailblazing Māori artist Robyn Kahukiwa's picture book about the forgotten taniwha Ngākau Pono, meaning 'Loyal Heart', is now available in this bilingual Māori-English edition.

E hia rau tau nei a Ngākau Pono e tiaki ana i tōna iwi. Heoi anō, nō te wehenga atu o tōna iwi i te pā, ka ahatia?

Ngākau Pono has been looking after his people for hundreds of years. But what happens when his people leave the pā?

A beautiful bilingual children's story about culture loss and rediscovery by one of Aotearoa's foremost artists.
  • Published: 30 August 2022
  • ISBN: 9780143779469
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00
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About the author

Robyn Kahukiwa

Robyn Kahukiwa (1938-20250, of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Konohi, and Te Whānau-a-Ruataupare, was a highly regarded New Zealand contemporary artist and award-winning author and illustrator of children's books.

Born in Sydney, Australia, she trained as a commercial artist and came to New Zealand at the age of 19, where she came to be known for her work drawing on Māori symbolism and mythological figures as well as for her staunch support of Māori women's rights. She has written and illustrated 12 books of her own, and illustrated a number of stories for other New Zealand authors, most notably Patricia Grace.

In 2011 Kahukiwa was awarded Te Tohu Toi Kē a Te Waka Toi/Making a Difference Award for her contribution to Māori arts. In 2020, Robyn Kahukiwa received the Te Tohu Aroha mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu Exemplary/Supreme Award at the Te Waka Toi Awards, in recognition of her life’s work.

She died in April 2025 at the age of 87, and her whānau posted the news with the words, "You leave your great legacy of Māori art, and the taonga of your stories and illustrations for us your whānau, your mokopuna, and future generations."

Also by Robyn Kahukiwa

Watercress Tuna & the Children of Champion Street
Taniwha
Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere/The Kuia and the Spider
Tuna Wātakirihi Me Ngā Tamariki O Te Tiriti O Toa, Te/Watercress Tuna and the Children of Champion Street
See all