Books celebrates multiculturalism
Book series helps celebrate cultural differences
AKa¯ piti Coast man is tapping into a rich vein of multiculturalism that is modern-day Aotearoa New Zealand through a series of children’s books.
Scott MacGregor helps produce books that celebrate different cultures as a very real way of engaging those students on their learning journey.
The books resonate with youngsters who identify with the many cultures he sees while travelling the country, each book featuring real-life images and relatable stories special to that culture, while also providing an insight for other students to learn about other ways of life.
“This is New Zealand. This is the New Zealand I see,” he said.
One school he visited recently had 70 different nationalities among the student roll. Let that sink in.
“There is a huge, huge melting pot coming through.”
The books are all written in English, but it’s the photos in the book that speak loudest. It’s about lengthening attention span and the books do that through engaging photographs rather than illustrations, modern photos that are big bright and real.
“You try to capture natural photos,” he said.
“The pictures tell the story. If you are Samoan, how would you want to learn English? You want to learn a story about yourself and what you know and what you relate to. People recognise what they see, and the feedback is all about that.”
The books were originally started by his mother Jill, who as a primary school teacher developed a keen interest in the Pacific, living and holidaying in different areas for long stretches of time, spending 25 years going back and forth.
Jill MacGregor would fund her trips to Pacific Islands by writing published articles in school journals. Scott remembers his mother coming home with stories and photographs from her teaching sojourns.
She identified what she saw as a gap and began publishing a series of books aimed at improving literacy rates and helping educate children.
Initially four books were published, and unbeknown to the author they were a huge hit as a literary aid. There was simply nothing like them in the system. Now, more than 70 books have been published, each with a different family and different story.
Scott was a land surveyor by trade. A back injury saw him pick up a camera and start helping his mother with the books. He immediately found it rewarding.
“Mum always had a passion for the Pasifika people and what she has done is huge. She would come home with all these pictures...she funded her travels by writing and had them published in school journals and that paid for the next trip.”
Scott had been helping with the books for the past 13 years now, spending 8-9 months of the year on the road. Each book was its own journey. He says he wasn’t a writer, so he sticks to the photography.
“I pick character or subject and follow their journey...chores...sport...I say to the child “show me your life”. I sit in the background with the camera, if you see something that’s really cool you try and capture it.
“I can sit and talk for hours.
“You have to find the right family and the right people to talk to who are willing to contribute. Once they realise the intent of the story they are grateful at the chance to be involved.”
He often liaises with church leaders and school principals to identify a family that is open and accepting to the idea of a story and having thousands of photos taken. He purposely uses a camera that is small in size.
“It’s not big. It’s not threatening. I always show them what I am taking, so they’re happy,” he said.
He always uses real names. It can be emotional when he returns with a book and presents it to whoever was the subject of that book, and they see it and read it for the first time.
“When you get to tell their story, its really nice. They’re always onboard, and proud,” he said.
Scott has produced books that depict catching coconut crabs in Nuie and a firedance in Samoa. He was especially proud of a book based on a Syrian book that had prompted positive feedback, while another about children in Tuvalu playing on the runway is another favourite.
While there is a global aspect to the books, there are some with a distinctly local flavour. He has done a book about a Ka¯piti Island trip, a polyfest in Stokes Valley, and hopes to do another soon depicting life at a local marae, finding pipi, catching eel, cooking hangi.
There was a book on the annual Otaki ¯ kite festival, telling a story of traditional kite making from raupo, toi toi and harakeke, and spending hours making kites for the festival.
“It is a beautiful book. It really worked,” he said.
“The books can bring about so much discussion. Where’s the toilet? Where do you sleep? Where do you eat? It bridges gaps.”
The books are in kindergartens and primary schools all over New Zealand and the Pacific, with some also making it to Australia, the United Kingdom, and USA.