The Kai Stars of Matariki Tupuanuku and Tupuarangi product reviews

The Kai Stars of Matariki is the third book the children have read in this series, so they were understandably thrilled to receive their own copy to review. What made it even more special was its setting at Te Mata Hapuku (Birdlings Flat) as they live close by and are very familiar with the area. As have many children in this generation, they have grown up with a strong awareness of the importance of the annual Matariki celebrations. At Mr Four's kindergarten the festivities are extensive. Past and present pupils join in the celebrations; it is one of the highlights of the year.

The naughty patupaiarehe are yet again the antiheroes of this story. They steal and do not care about anyone else - which, of course, is the opposite of what Matariki stands for. Te Rerehua and Sam are horrified to discover what they have done, and determined that they should make reparation. The children make the thieves go out into Te Roto o Wairewa (Forsyth Lake} to catch fish so that the stolen eels can be replaced in time for the feast next day. This is a problem for the patupaiarehe: like many fair skinned creatures, they cannot tolerate sunlight. As nocturnal beings, they conduct their cheeky raids under the cover of darkness. As a result, they have to work fast to get the task completed.

It is important that the children ensure that the patupaiarehe will not come back for a second raid. There are no guarantees; it is in their nature to be as antisocial as they can! However, Poua has the answer. He knows that the patupaiarehe always eat their fish raw - so if it is cooked immediately, it will no longer be attractive to the thieves. The Matariki feast is safe! As for the patupaiarehe, they can hardly complain as they have already finished all the eels. Mr Four was delighted that they were held accountable for their naughtiness! He wondered if kindergartens should be reminded to cook any supplies they had collected for their own celebrations in case some patupaiarehe visited them too.

Both children (and their parents) were delighted that the Maori words used in the text were translated into English at the bottom of the pages. Many of these words were already familiar, but there were some new ones too like whata and harikoa. It was also interesting to learn the origins of the names Tupuanuku and Tupuarangi. It was the first time any of us had made the connection, although it was obvious when we thought about it!

Finally, the illustrations are of the same high standard as those Zak Waipara has previously aspired to in his collaborations with Miriama Kamo. They are colourful, easy for small children to access, and emphasizing the link between the physical and the spiritual, the traditional Maori and the modern global environment. We also liked the almost graphic novel style layout of some of the pages featuring the patupaiarehe, where the illustrations were just as important as the text. All of us are looking forward to the next book in the series.

Matariki has quickly become my children's favourite holiday, they get to do lots of crafts and usually get to eat some yummy food with their small rural school, this year we are even digging a hole and putting down a hangi for the school! We have been enjoying the stories about Matariki written by Miriama Kamo and were excited to see that the third book had recently been published. The first two stories were exciting, and it was interesting to see the authors interpretation about what Matariki means and putting it into a way that young children can enjoy.

Like with the other books in the series, the illustrator Zak Waipara has used vivid colours that interact well with the images, my youngest son particularly liked the images of the eels, but predominantly liked the images of the patupaiarehe / fairy folk. Throughout the story the illustrator has made the words from the author come alive and it is easy to become mesmerized by the storyline.

When we started reading the story we noticed that the story takes place around the area of New Zealand called Birdlings Flat, my children got excited as this was an area we had stopped and explored during the last holidays, and we collected some special rocks as mementoes. The story focuses on the kai (food) aspect of Matariki, these stars are called Tupuanuku and Tupuarangi, and how not all the food we eat has to be bought from a grocery store, such as eels and fish can be found in the local rivers. The kai of Tupuarangi is the food that grows above the ground, like fruit on trees etc., and Tupuanuku is the food that comes from under the earth, such as our vegetables like potatoes and kumara to name a couple, it's just a matter of being able to find it and cook it.

As Matariki was coming closer the children in the story were helping to gather food, however the fairy folk had decided to help themselves to the eels that were meant for the feast, the children decided that the fairy folk needed to fix their wrong and made them go fishing for some more to replace what they had eaten, the catch was they had to do it before the sun came up as they hate the sunlight more than they hate cooked eel, by dawn they had managed to catch piles of eels for the children to take home to their grandparents to cook straight away so the fairy folk couldn't eat it again! The feast was a success!

We all thoroughly enjoyed this book; however, I did get caught up a bit with my Māori pronunciation in some parts, which my eldest son quickly corrected me on. We have decided to donate this book to the local school as we have already donated the first two, this keeps their series up to date, and the children get to read them each Matariki while they do their focused learning. I look forward to seeing what the fourth book entails.