Take time to Share Matatriki with your Tamariki

/ Pitopito Korero / By

\\\"\\\" As we pause to celebrate Matariki, please consider taking the time to read to your tamariki. This beautiful book, Te Huihui o Matariki which tells the story of an adventurous young man called Mitai who lives with his seven handsome brothers in the village of Maketu. Mitai watches as his brothers are bewitched by seven beautiful women, and under their spell, the brothers no longer eat, look after themselves, work in their gardens or hunt. Realising the women are \\\’patupaiarehe\\\’ – fairy women – he knows they must be cast far away. They are given to Urutengangana, the god of the stars, and he places them in the heavens farthest from the earth. Yet once a year, at winter solstice, he allows their beauty to shine in the eastern sky. Also available in English as The Seven Stars of Matariki.

(Graphic courtesy of NZ Tourism Council)]]>