The Wild and Windy Stars of Matariki: Ururangi and Waipunarangi

With wonderful lush sentences Miriama Kamo describes Te Mata Hāpuka, a wild and windy coastal village near Ōtautahi. Sam and Te Rerehua love this place and value it’s unique weather, it’s flora and fauna and geographical treasures.

The siblings visit Te Mata Hāpuka to see their grandparents; they explore the landscape, go eeling and listen to Grandma’s stories of patupaiarehe and the stars. She points out to them the sibling whetū of Waipunarangi, who looks after the rain, and Ururangi, who tells of the wind patterns for the year. Kamo enhances this simple picture book by including fantastical scenes where Sam and Te Rerehua meet some mischievous patupaiarehe on the beach, trying to lure children with fairy fire.

Kamo writes with real poetry and a special talent for conjuring a place and atmosphere. The reader quickly feels reeled in to Te Mata Hāpuka and the wild way of life. She also showcases a special family bond. Sam and Te Rerehua’s grandparents are gentle and warm, the kind kids yearn for, fun and full of adventure but also wise and kind. Zak Waipara’s illustrations are digital and dynamic, brightly coloured and highly stylised, though I feel that the story would benefit from less stylised, more painterly illustrations.

This concise story of Ururangi and Waipunarangi and how they relate to the real world would work as a Matariki teaching tool, a read aloud, in conjunction with the other stories in the series or as a stand-alone story of one special place with one cool whānau.