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  • Published: 1 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9780143774877
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00

Te Hopu a Māui i a te Rā/How Māui Slowed the Sun



The iconic Māori myth is now available as a bilingual Māori-English story, with Merimeri Penfold's beautiful translation of Peter Gossage’s much-loved text.

Peter Gossage’s award-winning Māori myth is now available in a bilingual Māori-English edition, featuring Merimeri Penfold's translation.

He poto rawa ngā rā, he roa rawa ngā pō. Oti ana i a Māui he whakaaro e āta rere ai te rā i te rangi.
He putanga reo Māori–reo Pākehā o tēnei tino pakiwaitara o Aotearoa.

Faced with very short days and very long nights, Māui comes up with a plan to slow the Sun’s passage through the sky.
Peter Gossage’s much-loved retelling of this famous Māori myth has captivated young children for generations.

Other bilingual editions available:
Te Pakanga a ngā Maunga/Battle of the Mountains
Te-Ika-a-Māui/The Fish of Māui

Read all the Māori myths by Peter Gossage!

  • Published: 1 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9780143774877
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00

About the author

Peter Gossage

Peter Gossage was the storyteller and illustrator of more than 20 books for children. His powerful retelling of Maori myths and legends have captivated the children of New Zealand for generations.

Peter's first job on leaving school was at an advertising agency, and his drawings of Maori motifs on a television commercial drew interest from a publisher. This led to a career retelling and illustrating Maori legends for children. He also worked as a display artist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and as a graphic designer and scenic artist at TV2.

With his first book How Maui-tiki-tiki-a-Taranga Found His Mother published in 1975, Peter's iconic illustration style and deceptively simple storytelling will be familiar to many as classics in New Zealand homes and classrooms. He was a master of retelling important Maori myths, including Hinemoa and Tutanekai and Pania of the Reef. Many of the legends feature the hero Maui - also called the quick-witted and the trickster - whose exploits include slowing the sun in its course across the sky, fishing up the North Island/Te Ika a Maui and discovering the secret of fire.

The powerful combination of dramatic and distinctive illustrations with minimal yet evocative text has earned each tale its place among the beloved classics of our literature. Peter's stories will never lose their relevancy for New Zealand children, and many of his stories have been made into short films that are played on Maori Television.

In 2013, Peter was awarded the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award for a Much-Loved Book for How Maui Slowed the Sun.

Peter passed away on July 30, 2016.

Also by Peter Gossage

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Praise for Te Hopu a Māui i a te Rā/How Māui Slowed the Sun

Ko te pukapuka Te Hopu a Maui i a Te Ra e korero ana mo te hopu a Maui i a Te Ra. This book tells the story of how Maui caught the sun as well as how Maui slowed the sun. Me penei pea te korero, he pukapuka tenei e whakaohooho ana i te wairua, he aha ai? Na te mea he pukapuka tenei i panuitia e au i au e tamariki ana. This book brings back all sorts of good memories, this was one of the many books we read at kura and I couldn’t be happier that they’ve re-released the translated version. It is a book that is unbelievably nostalgic, and I hope that these books give the younger generation a sense of happiness when reading the stories of Maui.

Mihi Henare, The Sapling