Poupou Tauawhi

Description

Many years ago, a Maori couple built a little hall where people could gather. It was warm and welcoming, with walls that folded all the way round like wooden arms. Through the years, the hall houses a church, a shoemaker, a doctor, a dressmaker, a dance studio and finally becomes a meeting place for people who had travelled from countries far away. "And within were folded all the words and footsteps, the prayers and music, the dreams and dancing that had passed and were still to come."

Sarah Johnson was born in Hamilton and studied at Victoria University in Wellington, doing her Masters at the University of Stirling, Scotland. Most recently Sarah has lived in the UK but has also travelled within Europe, Singapore, Zimbabwe and Australia. Her current occupation (besides raising her children) is as a freelance writer and editor. Scott Tulloch is the author/illustrator of the recent Scholastic Titles On the Road to Tuapeka and Tom and the Dragon, as well as the Willy books (Willy's Dad, Willy's Mum, Willy's Grandpa) and the lovely Echo and Hush and The Naughtiest Puppy. A native speaker of Maori, Ngaere Roberts is a former Maori Immersion teacher and one of the principal writers for the draft curriculum for te reo Maori in mainstream schools.