The Maori Picture Dictionary

Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Rongowhakaata, Te Whanau-a-Kai) lives in Wellington with the author Sacha Cotter, their family and a vast hoard of picture books. Josh grew up in the mighty Manawatu, spending his school days drawing silly things in the back of his exercise books. He now works as an illustrator creating pictures for books, TV and animation. He still draws silly things as an adult, but mostly on bills and meeting notes.

Isobel Te Aho-White (Ngati Kahungunu, Ngai Tahu) grew up a bit quiet and shy in a large family. She loved stories and storytelling, especially about history and folklore, and was very much an outdoors kid, taking inspiration from nature. She always knew she wanted to be an illustrator, and now she tells visual stories through her art and children’s books, which embrace her close connection to her whakapapa and to nature.

Ross Calman (Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa-ki-te-tonga, Ngai Tahu) is an author, editor and licensed translator. He is the translator and editor of He Pukapuka Tataku i nga Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui | A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha by Tamihana Te Rauparaha, and co-author of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi (with Mark Derby and Toby Morris) and more.

Margaret Sinclair has worked in publishing in New Zealand and the UK for many years. Early on she trained as a primary school teacher but quickly turned to the world of books, thinking - mistakenly as it turned out - that books couldn’t be unruly or disruptive. She loves it.