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  • Published: 1 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9780143774884
  • Imprint: Picture Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $21.00

Te-Ika-a-Māui/The Fish of Māui



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 famous Māori myth about discovering Aotearoa’s North Island is now a bilingual Māori-English edition, featuring Merimeri Penfold's translation.

Kāhore ngā tuākana o Māui i hiahia kia haere ia i tō rātou taha ki te hī, he hae nō rātou. Heoi anō, ka mau i a Māui atamai te ika whakamīharo katoa.

He putanga reo Māori–reo Pākehā o tēnei tino pakiwaitara o Aotearoa.

Māui's jealous brothers don't want him to come fishing with them. But clever Māui catches the best fish of all.

Other bilingual editions available:
Te Hopu a Māui i a te Rā/How Māui Slowed the Sun
Te Pakanga a ngā Maunga/Battle of the Mountains

Read all the Māori myths by Peter Gossage!

  • Published: 1 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9780143774884
  • 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-Ika-a-Māui/The Fish of Māui

Ko nga pakiwaitara mo Maui e titia ana ki te whatumanawa o te Iwi Maori, a, ko enei pukapuka na Peter Gossage i tuhi, i ta ano hoki, he pukapuka ma te iwi whanui o Aotearoa. The stories of Maui and his adventures are a part of the lives of Maori, and these books written and illustrated by Peter Gossage are now known by all New Zealanders.

Mihi Henare, The Sapling