We love this beautifully new series of hand drawn children’s books created by Otago cousins, Kitty Brown and Kirsten Parkinson which feature both english and Te Reo Maori.
Good loves this first series of beautiful children’s books with hand drawn images featuring both English and Te Reo Maori, Reo Pepi.
Co-authors, also cousins, Kitty Brown and Kirsten Parkinson first had the idea of creating the series when they were at home with their own babies.
“As beginners we wanted something bilingual to share with our pepi (babies), with good illustrations and something that was durable. [We wanted} something that would help our whole whanau pick up some te reo skills too.”
Parkinson, who is a graduate of the Dunedin School of Art and a dance teacher at Otago Girls’ High School, illustrated the books, which feature delightful images of local children and farm animals. Both Parkinson and Brown, who are novice writers, wrote and translated the books too, which were then carefully edited by Fern Whitau.
Brown takes care of the administrative side of the venture which started with a simple idea and has know grown into a fully realised publishing company complete with it’s first set of books.
Reo Pepi has a strong focus on educational resources engaging with educators directly. “We road-tested our books with several Dunedin Early Childhood Education Centres and had a great response from educators and tamariki alike.”
For more, visit reopepi.co.nz
