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This is the English edition of Ngā Taonga e Waru mā Te Wheke. Let us know if you want us to order the te reo edition in for you. (Head to the Contact page to do that.)
For ages 4 to 8. A NZCYA Picture Book and Russell Clark Illustration Awards finalist in 2022.
Reviews
Crissi Blair, National Library ~ The legendary Te Wheke is always the treasure-hunter. His undersea lair is strung with his many finds — it’s worth spending some time lingering over pictures and spotting the wild array of things he’s collected. He hears young Aria on the beach, crying over her hurt knee. Te Wheke distracts big bro Tamati with treasures and whisks Aria away to his lair, demanding eight treasures before he’ll return her. Tamati is the hero, gathering wonderful gifts from home, including a parcel of smoked fish and a pounamu (the gifts also decorate the end-papers). He’s helped by their strong generously-proportioned mum. The showdown on the beach is magnificent and action-packed with a delicious, slightly gruesome end. This is an exciting story that readers will want again and again.
Read a Q&A with Steph Matuku on NZ Booklovers.
About the Kiwi author
Steph Matuku (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Te Atiawa) is a freelance writer from Taranaki. She enjoys writing stories for young people, and her work has appeared on the page, stage and screen. Her first two novels, Flight of the Fantail and Whetū Toa and the Magician were Storylines Notable Books. Whetū Toa and the Magician was a finalist at the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. In 2021, she was awarded the established Māori writer residency at the Michael King Centre where she worked on a novel about post-apocalyptic climate change.
