Who's the best at weaving, the kuia or the spider? They decide to ask their grandchildren...Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa's 1981 classic story The Kuia and the Spider returns in a dual reo Māori and English text, with Hirini Melbourne's original translation.
A bilingual Māori and English edition of Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa's award-winning picture book.
Tērā tētahi kuia ko tāna mahi
he raranga whāriki, raranga kete hoki.
I te koko o tōna kīhini e noho ana he pūngāwerewere
ko tāna mahi he hanga whare tukutuku.
Mai i te putanga i te 1981, kua noho Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere a Patricia Grace rāua ko Robyn Kahukiwa hei tino paki tūroa nō Aotearoa.
Once there was a kuia who made mats and baskets
In the corner of her kitchen lived a spider who made webs.
Since its publication in 1981, Patricia Grace and Robyn Kahukiwa’s award-winning story about two old friends bickering over whose weaving is best has become a New Zealand classic.
Praise for Te Kuia me te Pūngāwerewere/The Kuia and the Spider
This famous pukapuka is written by Whaea Patricia Grace, illustrated by Whaea Robyn Kahukiwa and translated by Matua Hirini Melbourne – basically a divine tapatoru which invokes the imagery of all three of them combining their magical powers to bring us this book like a scene from Captain Planet. A lot of the sentence structures will be familiar to learners, and there are plenty of opportunities to apply them in real life contexts. Ataahua in every way. NICOLE HAWKINS, THE SPINOFF
The children's book The Kuia and the Spider is a Kiwi classic, as cherished as The Hungry Caterpillar and Hairy Maclary AROHA AWARAU, STUFF
About the Author
Patricia Grace
Patricia Grace is one of New Zealand’s most prominent and celebrated Maori fiction authors and a figurehead of modern New Zealand literature. She garnered initial acclaim in the 1970s with her collection of short stories entitled Waiariki (1975) — the first published book by a Maori woman in New Zealand. She has published six novels and seven short story collections, as well as a number of books for children and a work of non-fiction. She won the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction for Potiki in 1987, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2001 with Dogside Story, which also won the 2001 Kiriyama Pacific Rim Fiction Prize. Her children’s story The Kuia and the Spider won the New Zealand Picture Book of the Year in 1982.
About the Artist
Robyn Kahukiwa
Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou) is a highly regarded New Zealand contemporary artist and award-winning author and illustrator of children's books.
Born in Sydney, Australia, she trained as a commercial artist and came to New Zealand at the age of 19, where she came to be known for her work drawing on Māori symbolism and mythological figures as well as for her staunch support of Māori women's rights. She has written and illustrated 12 books of her own, and illustrated a number of stories for other New Zealand authors, most notably Patricia Grace. In 2011 Kahukiwa was awarded Te Tohu Toi Kē a Te Waka Toi/Making a Difference Award for her contribution to Māori arts.
