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  • Published: 3 September 2019
  • ISBN: 9780143773337
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $17.99

My First Words in Māori



If you’d like to speak the beautiful Māori language with your kids, this is the book to get you started!

Help your tamariki to kōrero Māori with this brilliant first words book by Stacey Morrison, gorgeously illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly.

My First Words in Māori equips your whānau with the first words you need to speak te reo at home together.

With lively pictures labelled in Māori and English, each page introduces the concepts and words children use as they first begin to talk, get to know people and explore the world around them.

Designed by Māori language champion and broadcaster Stacey Morrison for parents and tamariki to read together, with plenty of details in the illustrations to point out and name, scenes include: Tinana/Body, Whānau/Family, Whare/House, Wāhi Tākaro/Places to Play, Tātahi/The Beach, Marae/The Marae – and much more!

This is the perfect book to bring the Māori language into your home and have fun with the kids on their language journey.

  • Published: 3 September 2019
  • ISBN: 9780143773337
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 32
  • RRP: $17.99

About the authors

Stacey Morrison

Stacey Morrison (Te Arawa, Ngāi Tahu) is a radio and TV broadcaster whose projects have spanned 25 years. She is also a māmā to three tamariki who have been brought up with te reo Māori as their mother tongue. Stacey herself didn’t learn to speak Māori until she was an adult. It required a lot of research, determination, wonderful mentors and the support of a community to achieve her goal of becoming fluent by the time her children were born.

Stacey and her husband Scotty co-wrote Māori at Home to help other families use te reo in everyday settings, and Stacey's first children's book, My First Words in Māori, became a number-one bestseller. She has since co-authored Kia Kaha: A storybook of Māori who changed the world with Jeremy Sherlock, which won NZ Booklover's Best Children's Book and a Storylines Notable Non-fiction Award.

Both Stacey and Scotty work with many groups and families to build Māori-language friendships and community for whānau. Stacey has also been an advisor on pre-schooler and children’s TV shows, which, along with her experiences with her own children, has helped her identify the words children pick up early in their language learning. As a winner of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori Champion Award in 2016, and the winner of Waipunarangi - Te Reo and Tikanga Award 2021, as well as a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo (the Institute of Excellence in Māori Language), Stacey loves encouraging the learning and use of our country’s beautiful native language.

Ali Teo

Ali Teo and John O'Reilly are freelance New Zealand illustrators and designers who have collaborated on several award-winning children’s books, including Tahi - One Lucky Kiwi (with Melanie Drewery), Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck!, Duck’s Stuck and Melu (all with Kyle Mewburn). They live in Papamoa Beach with their son Tiger and quite a few rescued animals including (at the moment) two dogs, eight chickens and nine goldfish.

Praise for My First Words in Māori

This pukapuka is piwari rawa but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s only for the tamariki. Complete with everyday household kupu and phrases, this is a great way to expand your vocabulary as a whole whanau. Dust off the ol’ Dymo or go nuts on Canva and design custom labels for everything in this book and keep your eyes out for the matching flash card set!

Nicole Hawkins, The Spinoff

The perfect first language book to teach te reo Maori

Maria Gill, Kids Books NZ

The book is user-friendly with both the Maori and English nouns beside each illustration. Another nice touch is that on each spread are common phrases to be used with tamariki, such as on the bedroom page are the phrases, 'Kei te tiwekaweka tenei ruma! This room is messy’ and 'Me tuku i nga tautapu takaro ki hea? Where should the toys go?’ as well as phrases that can use other kupu from the theme, such as on the emotions page the phrases are, 'Kei te pehea koe? How are you?’ and ‘Ka nui taku harikoa. I’m so happy.’ Perfect resource for all early learning services, homes and all ages.

Swings and Roundabouts

Ka mau te wehi! (Awesome.)

Stacey Anyan, North and South

Beginning with heads, shoulders, knees and toes, this simple pictorial dictionary covers about every day-to-day scenario a Kiwi family might encounter, with conversational phrases a bonus. Ka pai!

Ann Packer, NZ Listener Best Children's Books 2019