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Mōtītī Blue and the Oil Spill: A Story from the Rena Disaster

When the container ship, Rena, grounded on 5 October 2011, spilling an estimated 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into Tauranga Moana, the impact was devastating for the people of Bay of Plenty. With each turn of a tide, more toxic oil was washed up on Mōtītī and Matakana islands, along the Mount Maunganui coast and down to Maketū. It was a heart-breaking sight.

What was worse was the multitude of oiled birds and sea creatures, most of whom would die of suffocation from the toxic oil. Despairing residents were buoyed by the sight of oiled little blue penguins that were recovering well at the Te Maunga Oiled Wildlife Response Centre.

One of these oiled birds, a little blue penguin named Mōtītī Blue by the author, was rescued and treated at the Te Maunga. The release of these penguins back into the wild was a promise of hope for the future of Tauranga Moana.

Written by Debbie McCauley, translated by Tamati Waaka and illustrated by Sarah Elworthy

$36.00 incl. GST

1 in stock

Description

This bilingual children’s picture book won the Best Non-Fiction category in the 2015 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and was selected as a White Raven by the International Youth Library (IYL) in Munich, Germany.

Reviews

Annemarie Florian, New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults judge, 2015  ~ Every detail in this outstanding book has been lovingly laboured over – timeline, maps, acknowledgements, additional information. It has an evocative cover, resonating endpapers, thoroughly thoughtful design. And the heart of the story – the fate of Mōtītī Blue – nimbly engages the reader in both of our spoken languages for deep and recursive reading. Hats off to this small independent publisher for caring enough, for being persistent enough to get it so right.

Bob’s Book Blog ~ This is a powerful, accurate and superbly illustrated picture book sized work of a major marine disaster. An excellent resource for a study of the Rena disaster and a beginning study for senior students wanting to dig further.

Maria Gill, Kids Books NZ ~ This book is going to be a very useful resource for the classroom. Social Studies teachers could use it when studying ‘disasters’ and Science teachers could use the book when looking at the effects of oil spills on wildlife. Children will want to read it for enjoyment too. Young kids could have the story read to them or read it themselves. Older children will enjoy reading the extra facts. It could be used in kura kaupapa schools too, as it has Maori translations on each page… A well thought out book that is packed with lots of interesting facts. Highly recommended.

Additional information

Weight200 g
Dimensions27 × 22 cm
ISBN

9780473268695

First published

2014

Format

Hardcover edition

Page count

32

Published by

Mauao Publishing

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