In this fresh retelling of How Māui Fished Up the North Island, Donovan Bixley applies his unique twists and trademark humour to this much-treasured story. Māui is reimagined as a cheeky younger brother, on the type of hilarious fishing trip with the whanau that will be familiar to many Kiwi youngsters.
“I wanted my book to focus on the part of Māui who is tinihanga and pōtiki – the smallest brother and cheeky trickster. He’s the type of character a lot of children can connect with and I hope they are going to really love reading this book because it has a lot of attitude in it,” says Donovan.
Underneath the fun, is a real desire to honour the cultural significance and importance of Māui. Donovan worked under the guidance of Dr Darryn Joseph, who also translated the te reo edition, along with Keri Opai.