Authors

No biography

Elaine Williams grew up in Scotland and worked in London for many years before moving to the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand with her husband and two children. She studied Literature at university and has written stories all of her life. Arturo and the Glitter Glue is her first published book.

Loopy Tunes (Preschool) Music are a sister music duo based in Ōtauthai/Christchurch. Siu Williams-Lemi and Leah Williams-Partington are recognised for their reorua/bilingual Māori and Pasifika children's waiata, sung in their beautifully harmonious style. The sisters had their start in children's music 13 years ago through a weekly preschool music outreach which they helped create. This bilingual programme continues today but has grown six weekly music sessions during the school term. In 2019, the sisters recorded and released their first 13-track children's music album, "Kākāriki: Simply Us" and have released a total of 138 waiata to date; a number have been nominated for music awards both here in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and abroad! Thankfully, they LOVE what they do, so it continues to be a busy but rewarding time for them both! Loopy Tunes (Preschool) Music are a sister music duo based in Ōtauthai/Christchurch. Siu Williams-Lemi and Leah Williams-Partington are recognised for their reorua/bilingual Māori and Pasifika children's waiata, sung in their beautifully harmonious style. The sisters had their start in children's music 13 years ago through a weekly preschool music outreach which they helped create. This bilingual programme continues today but has grown six weekly music sessions during the school term. In 2019, the sisters recorded and released their first 13-track children's music album, "Kākāriki: Simply Us" and have released a total of 138 waiata to date; a number have been nominated for music awards both here in Aotearoa/New Zealand, and abroad! Thankfully, they LOVE what they do, so it continues to be a busy but rewarding time for them both! The loves in my life are my children of six, And we all grow together in a humble home, made of bricks.I live in the beautiful community of Bishopdale, Where you can find me walking, without fail, through sun, rain, snow or hail.I paint every day at my painted wooden table, Looking out the window at all the beautiful birds perched on telephone cables.Painting the songs written and sung by Loopy Tunes, has been a fantastical dream, And with Leah and Siu at the wheel, this is just the beginning for this dynamic, unique, courageous, kiwi, multicultural, bilingual, happy, loving team!

No biography

Fraser Williamson is an exhibiting artist (both nationally and internationally) and a prolific children's illustrator. Over the years he has illustrated a countless number children's books and school journal stories and his unique style is instantly recognisable. He lives on Auckland's North Shore with his wife Loisi and their son Antonio. They like to spend their time between Tonga, New Zealand and Spain. Matthew Williamson is a graphic designer who has worked a for a range of book and magazine publishers as a designer and art director. Matthew lives just outside Warkworth with his wife Erena and their two children, Miles and Moana. He runs Halcyon Design (with brother Luke) and has collaborated with Fraser on a number of projects besides their board books for Kiwi Babies.

No biography

No biography

No biography

No biography

Tangata Tiriti writer and teacher Annabel Wilson lives in Swannanoa. Her poetry has been published and performed in Aotearoa and overseas. Her previous works include

No biography

Born in 1940 and growing up in the post-war years the attributes of persistence, honesty and integrity and the importance of caring for those around you were the fundamental building blocks of life. ;After attending a country school and the small newly established High School at Waitara he was involved in a series of moves through a Government office, the office of a private company and farming before attending Palmerston North Teachers College in 1960. After just over five years in the teaching profession he married and changed career going dairy farming for the next forty years.; During this time both Peter and his wife spent many years leading Christian Youth work and were involved with the local school especially when it came to the school jubilees and writing of the school’s history. Poring over old family diaries in the evenings became an absorbing occupation, at times realising at some unearthly hour of the night that it was 1970 not 1870 and there were cows to milk in the morning.; Thus a fascination with the history of the early settlement and their ancestor’s lives began. This quickly widened to the whole district and all the families that he could trace. There are some significant pa sites in the districts that have been written about and some stories of the early Maori have been recorded. The first Europeans in the district were mostly soldiers discharged from the Military and in some cases were family members.; On retirement from active farming he spent about fifteen years as a First Responder for St John Ambulance service as well as pursuing his hobby that was almost becoming a full time occupation of gathering and writing the stories of the people in the districts in which he lived.; This culminated in the publishing of several small booklets for the school jubilees and the publication of a major work on the district he grew up and taught in Lepperton in 2012 which was reprinted as a 2nd edition in 2020; “Even the Dogs Have Forgotten to Bark”.