Thank you to Oratia Books!

Kete and The Coalition for Books thank Oratia Books for permission to use the artwork from Rere Atu ki Poronihia / Flight to Polynesia in the Pasifika Books 2026 catalogue.

We acknowledge the team behind it: illustrator Luca Tu’avao Walton, author Tangaroa Paul, and Oratia Books, publishing in association with Auckland Council Libraries.

Read on for more information about Rere Atu ki Poronihia / Flight to Polynesia.

In this sequel to Tangaroa’s popular Rere Atu Taku Poi! / Let My Poi Fly!, Rangi and his kapa haka group fly from Aotearoa to Hawai’i for a cultural festival. While sharing the group’s culture with others from around the Pacific, Rangi makes friends with young people like him from Hawai’i, Sāmoa and Tonga who combine male and female energy. And so on with the show, as their performances take the foreground while in the background Rangi ponders how Māori define gender and identity.

Written in te reo Māori with English translation, and illustrations by emerging Tongan-Kiwi artist Luca Tu’avao Walton, Rere Atu ki Poronihia is an uplifting story that lets young readers explore the varied cultures of Polynesia. It will launch in time for Pasifika Festival 2026, and will have a teacher resource available.

Tangaroa’s first book was shortlisted at the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and featured on the Storylines Notable Books list. It has been adapted as a stage play, and as an audio book. Tangaroa is a poi expert who identifies as gender-fluid, and is a lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology, where they completed a doctorate in gender studies in 2023. Their books draw on Tangaroa’s own experience as the first biological male to compete in the poi section of Te Matatini.

Look out for the chance to win Rere Atu ki Poronihia / Flight to Polynesia in our special Pasifika Books newsletter on Friday 20th March.