'A rumbunctious boy with bold statements': A new book about a Māori boy's perspective

For today's generation this could be a cartoon/political-esque version of Taika Waititi's classic film Boy.

A new book called, Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai, is a story told through the lens of a confident young Māori Pākehā child living with lessons from te ao Māori (Māori worldview) and the impacts Pākehā settlers had on Aotearoa.

The author, Michaela Keeble of UK, Austrian and German heritage grew up on Wurundjeri land in Australia and now lives in Aotearoa with her Māori Partner and children. She took inspiration from the colourful thoughts of her son Kerehi Grace (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Porou) and together co-wrote Paku Manu Ariki's story.

Cook Islands illustrator Tokerau Brown lends his artistry to the book and he says there were challenges choosing the right images for sections of the picture book.

Brown says Kerehi often had the solution.

"We couldn't find answers for some really hard questions of what image would suit this text. Often Kerehi would pop-up out of nowhere while Michaela and I were having a zoom and just have the answer.

"A rambunctious boy, he's just bold. He just jumps up and he's like, 'You guys should just do this', and we'd be like, 'yeah! That's a really good idea'."

Brown says the imagery also drew inspiration from a couple of his "hilarious" nephews.

"Being around your younglings, they have so many different moods and so many different hilarious things happen in the day...maybe a bit of dancing to K-Pop or whatever. And I was fully taking that as material for the book."

Published by Wellington based children's book publisher Gecko Press, ​Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai​ is available online​ or in select bookstores nationwide.

Watch the full interview with Tokerau Brown on ​Pacific Days​ with Ma'a Brian Sagala below.