Te Rerenga: The Pathway

This book is book one in a series of books called The Chronicles of Paki - Treaty of Waitangi Series. In easy-to-read graphic novel format, these books tell the untold stories of NZ’s history.

This story opens with a group of Christians appalled by the treatment of native peoples by the British as they roamed the world taking land and making slaves. Their particular concern was for NZ Māori and this story shows how their thinking made way for The Treaty of Waitangi in NZ (the last of the British colonies). With NZ curriculum demanding more knowledge and understanding of our history, this series becomes an important and accessible source.

There are short paragraphs of explanatory text and the main body of the book is in graphic novel format with engaging illustrations and speech bubbles.

In this series, the authors have researched well, producing an authentic account of the main historical events shaping the relationship between Māori and European during the 18th and 19th centuries. This series is highly readable and I would recommend it for any NZ school library. And I would love to see them publish a series on the events around Parihaka. (Ed: the publisher says they're working towards that)

Title: Te Rerenga: The Pathway

Author: Alison Condon and Gina Taggart

Illustrator: Tania Hassounia

Publisher: Big Book Publishing

ISBN: 9780994108562

RRP: $64.90 for the series

Format: paperback

Date of Publication: 2017

Ages: 8-14

Reviewer: Nova Gibson, Library Manager, Massey Primary School

How are you recommending this book? Highly Recommended

You can buy this series of books here