Interview: Four questions with Kate Preece

Ten Nosey Weka, Kate Preece's second picture book, is a counting story in three languages: te reo Māori, ta rē Moriori and English. She and her family live on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands). Kete spoke to Kate about her aims for the book, the journey of her family with ta rē Moriori, and what she intends to write next.

Mōrena Kate! Ten Nosey Weka has such a lovely, earthy feel to it. Is that what you envisioned when you started writing the book?

You know, I think I was so focused on getting ta rē Moriori onto bookshelves that I didn’t have a clear picture of it would look like in those early stages. However, when Bateman suggested reaching out to Isobel Te Aho-White, I knew she’d nail the weka’s curious nature and the palette of Rēkohu (Wharekauri, Chatham Islands).

You’ve said this book was written for your children, for their heritage. Can you talk further about what it means to you?

This book started a journey for my hūnau (whānau, family). My husband is Moriori – and Māori, and grew up on Rēkohu, but with very little exposure to ta rē Moriori, as was the norm. As a wordsmith, I knew I could do something to change our children’s experience. Fast-forward a couple of years and we can now describe what we see around Rēkohu using the language of the tchakat henu (tangata whenua, indigenous people) – and it all started with tehi (tahi, one), teru (rua, two), toru (toru, three).

The book was produced in consultation with the Hokotehi Moriori Trust. Was this an important part of the process?

Absolutely – it was essential. There is no way I would have sent this out into the world without the approval of the mandated organisation that represents the imi (iwi, tribe). And, to be nosey… what are you writing next? Will you be working on more picture books? Definitely! I’m playing with one that puts a relatively unknown Rēkohu reptile centre stage, and I have been tinkering with some more ta rē Moriori-based books. I have one of the latter that I would particularly like to see published, as it builds on these first steps taken by Ten Nosey Weka and further supports the learning of our tchmirik’ (tamariki, children). Next on the shelves, though, is The Butterfly Fluttered By (Bateman Books), which will be released in September and showcases Rēkohu’s endemic insects. Led by the red admiral butterfly, this game of hide and seek is brought to life with brilliant watercolour illustrations by Pippa Ensor – the illustrator of my first book, One Weka Went Walking (2022, Bateman Books). Ten Nosey Weka (9781776891047, 1 July 2024) is published by Bateman Books.