Whenua: Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White

In Whenua,  Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa, award-winning illustrator Isobel Joy Te Aho-White makes her debut as a storyteller with 11 captivating pūrākau (traditional Māori stories which have been passed on through the generations).

She begins with the Māori story of creation, of how Ranginui (the Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (the Earth Mother) were locked in  a loving embrace. Between them, their children were trapped in darkness until Tane, one of the sons, pushed them apart, allowing light to flood into the world. From then on, their descendants were able to flourish and grow.

Then follow eleven more fascinating tales which take us on a journey around New Zealand and show how Aoteroa’s landscape was shaped, its mountain ranges, valleys, rivers, lakes, gorges and other landmarks. They include a riveting tale of how four sky brothers accidentally plummeted into the ocean and turned into stone over the centuries. The snow which nestled in their hair became known as the Southern Alps.

And another, of how the Moeraki boulders were formed when the Kāhui Tipua chief ordered that his precious cargo of baskets of kūmara be thrown overboard when his waka became waterlogged and began to sink. The kūmara washed ashore and eventually solidified into mudstone boulders.

How the Tararua and Ruahine ranges were formed is another enthralling tale about a restless spirit called Okatia who inhabited a magnificent Tōtara tree. He longed to stride around the forest and the world beyond to see what he could see. But would he be able to pull out the roots which kept him firmly anchored to the ground?

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White’s beautiful, realistic illustrations of atua and legendary creatures in the landscape, over which Māori patterns have been superimposed, were inspired by art from both her Pākēha and Māori sides. They complement the stories perfectly.

Particularly stunning are her illustrations of Papatūānaku and Ranginui caught in a gentle, loving embrace, of the terrifying Kāhui Tipua giants with their two-headed dogs, of the fiery sisters leaping around joyously dropping baskets of embers which turn into geysers and hot pools, and of the jealous mountain warriors, each convinced they are the worthiest of the beautiful Mt Pihanga.

Isobel Joy Te Aho-White chose to tell these eleven pūrakau to share her passion for Te Ao Māori and her respect for the Natural World. She writes:

‘Our Māori ancestors have always had a tradition of telling stories passed down through the generations. For us story-telling is an art form that is used to relay important information about nature, history, healing and the land.'

Pūrākau provide us with a window into Te Ao Māori ( The Māori World) in which Māori whakapapa all the way back to Ranginui and Papatuanuku, their children (who are their ātua (gods) and all their descendants. Māori feel a deep spiritual connection to their land. And their respect for the natural world is based on their belief that they, like all the other creatures that inhabit the world, are part of creation and are interconnected.

Whenua: Māori Pūrākau of Aoteroa is a wonderful book for families to enjoy reading together to learn about legendary Māori figures and atua and how these shaped Aotearoa’s landscape. The eleven spellbinding pūrākau, all beautifully illustrated, make it a book they will want to come back to again and again.

Reviewer: Lyn Potter

Little Moa, an imprint of Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand.