Books: Historic Themes
Books that look at historic events or people that aren’t specifically from te ao Māori or related to ANZAC.
John Joe’s Tune: How New Zealand got its National Anthem
Author: Tania Atkinson
Drawings: Christine Ross
Publication date: 26 May 2015
Publisher: David Ling Publishing Limited
Imprint: Duck Creek Press
ISBN: 13 9781927305058
Summary: One wintry night in Lawrence, Otago, school principal John Joseph Woods read about a competition to compose an anthem. He won, and his tune became the music for God Defend New Zealand.
Simple rhyming story, doesn’t go into many details about the creator – the back cover gives more information than the story itself! The further information section tells us that Sir George Grey, the Premier, was sorry the words were not in Māori as well as English, so a translation was included. The book includes all five verses in English and Māori, as well as piano music.
Kate Sheppard
Source: Massey University Library
Author: Maria Gill
illustration: Marcho Invacic
ISBN-13 : 978-1775435471
Language : English
Publisher: Scholastic New Zealand Limited
Summary: UP UNTIL 125 YEARS AGO, there wasn’t a single country in the world that allowed women to vote in general elections. But that was before KATE SHEPPARD. With fierce determination and unstoppable belief, Kate led the way in the women’s suffrage movement. She rallied enough support to make New Zealand the FIRST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD to give women the vote! When Kate was young, girls didn’t get to play football and women weren’t supposed to ride bikes. They had to wear suffocating corsets and behave like ladies! Spirited Kate wanted much more than that. And she battled to get it. LEARN THE LEGACY that lives on to this day.
A really enjoyable read, that brings Kate Sheppards story to life. “Kate scowled and booted the ball with all her might”, “she hung over the tail and watched as it played alongside”. there are little additional bits of information in side notes, and the story shares the difficulty, but also how she had the support of her husband, Sir Jules Vogel, and the establishment of Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Although it does mention that Maori women were supported to be able to vote in the same change to the electoral legislation, but only as a side note. Book includes timeline of NZ suffrage, and a map with timeline of women’s suffrage across the world.
The Mill is Kaiapoi
#NgaiTahu #rauparaha #pounamu #wool #flax
Source: Massey University Library
Artwork, story and lyrics by Mary Kelleher
musical arrangement by David Parker
ISBN : 9780473287047
Publisher : Handmade Designs Ltd
Availability date : November 2014
Summary: “[F]ollow over 200 years of history about an iconic part of New Zealand: history from when it was a major trading Pa for Ngai Tahu, to arrival of European immigrants, the 100 years it was a mill town and now rebuilding itself after the devastating 2010 & 2011 earthquakes”–Publisher’s website.
Notes: Inside pages are folded accordian style. Book contains a reproduction of a hand stitched mural which depicts scenes from the history of Kaiapoi, as well as the lyrics to a song. CD contains a performance version and a narrated version of the song.
Absolutely delightful story of Kaipoi with the refrain “…the mill is Kaiapoi, Kaiapoi is the Mill”. Talks of the history, the hard times and the good times.
