Animal adventure fun ride for kids

Who is the reader you are imagining when you’re writing?

Everyone! Kids can read the words themselves, or be read to by a parent, a koro, or a teacher. We all love having a story read to us or reading an exciting book in a little reading nook, or even under the covers with a torch! I want the tamariki to want to hear what happens next …

How is it different writing for kids compared to adults?

I may be wrong but I think stories for kids need lots of signposts. The tamariki need to know where they’re going, what’s happening, are they up or down or upside down. They need to trust the writer and enjoy the ride. The same of course for adults, but in a grown up text there may be more room for the adult reader to figure things out. In that case, the writer needs to trust their readers more.

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve been writing for a long time. Since I was a teenager. Āe, I always knew I wanted to be a writer but it took a while to know what topics I wanted to write about. With children’s stories, I just knew I wanted to make them exciting and fun and a bit silly too. And I wanted to set them in Aotearoa New Zealand – in places that our kids can recognise.

How do you incorporate te reo and te ao Māori into your writing?

For this story, I couldn’t write about Aotearoa NZ birds and the bush without te reo. It didn’t feel right, and in the end it was a natural thing – it just flowed. The manu flew in front of me and led the way. I’m sure there are thousands of tamariki and teachers and parents who will love knowing some simple te reo, for example that a stoat’ is called a toriura, or a magpie is a makipai, or harakeke is flax, OR that the enormous Pouākai is actually the great Haast Eagle, the legendary giants of the skies – oops, spoiler alert.

What book did you read in childhood that you clearly still remember now?

I remember my wonderful primary school teacher Mrs Barbara Golden who read Charlotte’s Web by EB White. She read a chapter a week and I anticipated every word. “Humble” and yes, Wilbur was “Some pig.” Mrs Golden is so super kind. She inspired me as a child and nurtured my love of reading and creativity. Mrs Golden is celebrating with me at the launch of Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie! I can’t wait.

Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie, by Shelley Burne-Field, published by Allen & Unwin, is available from May 2.

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Hawkes Bay author Shelley Burne-Field has released her first children’s book.