World Kid Lit Month: Bingo for 0-6: Oceania

The dynamic duo of Sacha Cotter and Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata).

•  Keys / Ngā Kī (Huia, 2014). 

• The Marble Maker | Te Kaihanga Māpere (Huia, 2016). 

• The Bomb | Te Pohū (Huia, 2018). 

• Cannonball (US edition of The Bomb; Sourcebooks, 2020). 

• One Bird Band (Little Steps Publishing, 2022) 

• When Daddy Tucks Me In (US edition of Keys; Sourcebooks, 2023). 

• Dazzlehands / Ringakōreko (Huia, 2023). 

• A Guide to Rocks / He Taonga te Toka (Huia, 2025)

Te reo Māori editions translated by Kawata Teepa (Tūhoe, Te Whakatōhea).

I had the privilege to be part of the audience for the inaugural performance of A Guide to Rocks at the Auckland. Claire Mabey, in this article for The Spinoff, wasn’t the only one crying – and wanting the pair to have a recording contract. Like Crissi Blair, in her report, I thought Ice Cream was a hit – I heard it once, months ago, and now my earworm is ‘brain freeze emergency.’

One the face of it, not all of their books are obviously from Oceania / the Pacific region / Aotearoa New Zealand, but there’s a certain quality that infuses them all.