Author's Maori work published

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 571, 31 January 1995, Page 1

Author's Maori work published

Ohakune has a new children' s hook writer — Lila Pakinga. Mrs Pakinga' s first hook, written in Maori, is entitled "E Haere Ana Nga Kararehe Ki Hea?" (Where are the Animals Going?). It is a beginner reader which was published late last year by Learning Media Limited for the Ministry of Education. Sixty thousand copies of the book were printed. It is likely to be the first of several published, said Mrs Pakinga, with LML planning on releasing another in June. Land' s End Publishing is also to publish one of her books, in English, entitled " Why I Love My Family" which tells of a little girl explaining why she loves each of the people in her family as they come in the door of their house. Lands End Publishing caters to markets in New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific

Islands, the United States and Canada, Britain, Asia and Africa. "These books are basic readers aimed at teaching simple sentence structure, in Maori and English," said Mrs Pakinga. She said she has been writing for some time, submitting a number of manuscripts to publishers. "I usually send eight to 10 stories and sometimes they take one, sometimes two, sometimes none," she said. She said she began sending her work to publishers thanks to eneouragement from ex-Ohakune teacher Aime Vincent. "I got into writing with eneouragement from my Auntie Joan Akapita — she beIieved that there needed to be more Maori readers in schools with the Wanganui dialect." Mrs Pakinga said most readers published are in the East Coast dialect.