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Published: 17 May 2022
ISBN: 9780143776154
Imprint: Picture Puffin
Format: Hardback
Pages: 64
RRP: $25.00

Categories:

Astromancer 1: The Astromancer

Name: Astromancer 1: The Astromancer
Price: 25.00 NZD
ISBN: 9780143776154

The Rising of Matariki

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Welcome to the realm of the Astromancer - lore-master of the stars...
An award-winning adventure story in chapters with stunning illustrations, bringing the Matariki legends to life as they've never been experienced before!

Join the Astromancer on her quest to find apprentices with the necessary gifts to ensure a good relationship with the Matariki gods. Her youngest apprentice, Aria, has a talent for breaking the rules that endangers her whole tribe, but she also has the potential to save it...

'An epic fantasy quest' - Magpies
'Chock full of danger, heroes, old wisdom and new blood' - NZ Herald
The Astromancer is looking for four new apprentices to learn about Matariki and the Maramataka calendar. She chooses three boys and an orphan girl, Aria, who will come only if she can bring her smelly dog.

Aria is bored by the lessons and doesn’t want to be told what to do.

But these are dangerous times, and Ruatapu the Ravenous is about to threaten the safety of the whole tribe. Will Aria step up to save them?

This is the exciting first instalment in a trilogy of thrilling, large-scale illustrated chapter stories exploring legends of Aotearoa and Polynesia.

Read them all!
#2 Ariā and the Kūmara God
#3 Ariā and the Monster Island

Also available in te reo Maori as Te Kokorangi.

Published: 17 May 2022
ISBN: 9780143776154
Imprint: Picture Puffin
Format: Hardback
Pages: 64
RRP: $25.00

Categories:

About the authors

Witi Ihimaera Smiler

Witi Ihimaera Smiler is a prolific and accomplished New Zealand author whose body of work centring Māori culture and values has blazed a trail for Māori and indigenous writers around the world. He has published more than forty works for adults and children, including novels, memoir, non-fiction and short stories. Described by Metro magazine as ‘Part oracle, part memorialist,’ and ‘an inspired voice, weaving many stories together’, Ihimaera has also written for stage and screen – including libretti – edited books on the arts and culture and published a range of works for children. His best-known novel is The Whale Rider, which was made into an internationally successful film in 2002. His novel Nights in the Gardens of Spain was made into the feature film Kawa, White Lies was based on his novella Medicine Woman and his novel Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies inspired the 2016 feature film Mahana. His first book, Pounamu, Pounamu, has been continuously in print since its first publication in 1972. His works have received many awards over the years, including the Wattie Book of the Year and the Montana Book Award, and the Ockham Award for best non-fiction in 2016 for his first volume of memoir, Māori Boy. A second volume, Native Son, was published in 2019, the same year that Pūrākau, which he co-edited, was released: celebrating the work of other writers has also been an important part of Ihimaera’s focus. In 2020 he published his substantial nonfiction work, Navigating the Stars, and The Swimmer followed in 2026. He has also had careers in diplomacy, teaching, theatre, opera, film and television. He has received numerous awards for his contribution to literature. In 2004 he became a Distinguished Companion of the Order of New Zealand, and in 2009 he was awarded the inaugural Star of Oceania Award, University of Hawaii, a laureate award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation and the Toi Māori Tiketike Award. The Premio Ostana International Award was presented to him in Italy 2010. In 2017 France made him Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres and he received the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction. On receiving the supreme Māori arts award Te Tohutiketike a Te Waka Toi, Ihimaera said, ‘To be given Māoridom’s highest cultural award, well, it’s recognition of the iwi. Without them, I would have nothing to write about and there would be no Ihimaera. So this award is for all those ancestors who have made us all the people we are. It is also for the generations to come, to show them that even when you aren’t looking, destiny has a job for you to do.’

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White

Isobel Te Aho-White (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu) is an award-winning Illustrator based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her book Santa’s Worst Christmas (2019) with Huia publishers was nominated for the NCYA Book Awards across five categories and her book Whiti: Colossal Squid of the Deep (2020) written by Victoria Cleal and published by Te Papa Press won a Whitley award for best children’s book. She is the illustrator of Witi Ihimaera's novels about Te Kōkōrangi, the Astromancer (Puffin, 2022 and 2024), a co-illustrator of The Maori Picture Dictionary/Te Papakupu Whakaahua by Margaret Sinclair and Ross Calman (Puffin, 2022), and her illustrations have enhanced well over 30 children's books to date.

Praise for Astromancer 1: The Astromancer

I’ve really enjoyed this book as it relates to what we are learning at school. I found it really easy to read and follow and I enjoyed all of the beautiful pictures. I’m looking forward to taking this book to school for my teacher to read to the class as part of our learning about Matariki.
Ella (aged 8), Kidspot.co.nz

Who better to teach us through story than Witi Ihimaera? The Astromancer: The Rising of Matariki (Puffin, $25) is a new chapter book for readers of about 8 and up and is chock full of danger, heroes, old wisdom and new blood. . . . this is an action adventure story where we learn in the best way - by being thoroughly absorbed in a wonderful story.
Louise Ward, NZ Herald

Don’t be fooled – The Astromancer, which features arch-deceiver Ruatapu the Ravenous, is much more than the picture book it appears to be. What might have been a first chapter book becomes a lavishly illustrated story, with Isobel Te Aho-White’s alternating full-colour and graphic black-and-white pictures making the 10-chapter hardback perfect for classroom reading in the lead-up to Matariki.
Ann Packer, NZ Listener

The Astromancer. The Rising of Matariki, a new children’s book by Witi Ihimaera, one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed authors, is a spellbinding tale inspired by purakau, legendary Maori stories from ancient times. . . . Witi Ihimaera is a great storyteller. Te Kokorangi is based on an astromancer who lived long ago. But the children and Aria’s dog have come out of his own creative imagination. They make this story very relatable for children who will also be entranced by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White’s brilliant illustrations. Central to the story is the continuing battle of wills between Te Kokorangi and Aria who has suffered the trauma of being an orphan and having to fend for herself. It is only love and a sense of belonging that can heal her. At the beginning the boys stay in the background, but their strength and courage eventually shine through. The Astromancer: The Rising of Matariki is a great way for children to learn about Matariki, and how it is about so much more than simply gazing at the nine Matariki stars in the night sky. These ancient stories still have relevance for us today. They teach us about the need to respect and live in harmony with the spiritual and natural world. Friday June 24 will be a very special occasion, the first time Matariki will be a public holiday in New Zealand. The Astromancer. The Rising of Matariki would be a great book for families to read together as part of their Matariki celebrations.
Lynn Potter, NZ Booklovers

Christmas Book Guide for Kids 2022: One of our most celebrated writers, and most talented illustrators, put out this beautiful, lively Matariki story. With a gutsy heroine and high stakes this is a great one for the home library.
The Spinoff