Six Māori-Language Children's Books Chosen for Inaugural IBBY-UNESCO Collection
Six te reo Māori children's books from a single independent publisher in New Zealand have been selected for the first-ever IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages, a new partnership between the International Board on Books for Young People and UNESCO. All six titles come from HUIA Publishers, a Māori-owned house based in Wellington. (Publishing Perspectives)
The collection was unveiled at IBBY's 40th Annual World Congress, held in Ottawa, Canada, from 6 to 9 August 2026 under the theme 'Listening to Each Other's Voices'. The congress drew 350 national and international publishers and publishing professionals. A committee of IBBY members, UNESCO representatives, and international experts in children's and young adult publishing chose the selected titles. (Publishing Perspectives)
The stakes behind the collection are linguistic. A UNESCO study cited in the announcement states that 40 percent of the world's roughly 7,000 languages may disappear by the end of the 21st century. The IBBY-UNESCO Collection is described as a worldwide invitation to publishers, librarians and institutions to promote books and reading, including in endangered languages. (Publishing Perspectives)
One of the six selected HUIA titles is 'Kua Whetūrangitia a Koro' by Brianne Te Paa, illustrated by Story Hemi-Morehouse. The full list of six has not been itemised in the available reporting, but all are te reo Māori children's books — meaning they are written entirely in the indigenous language of New Zealand, not bilingual editions. (Publishing Perspectives; Publishers Association of New Zealand)
HUIA is run by Director Eboni Waitere, who is also the first Māori President of the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu, the country's trade body for publishers. The house has built its list around Māori-language publishing, from children's picture books to works of cultural and scholarly importance — among them 'Whiti Ora' by Sir Mason Durie, which collects decades of the academic's papers on Māori health, education and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, New Zealand's founding treaty. (HUIA Publishers)
For a house of HUIA's size to land six of its titles in an inaugural international collection is notable. Independent publishers in minority languages operate on narrow margins and small print runs; international visibility of this kind can open doors to translation rights, foreign editions and library purchases well beyond their home market. The selection also places te reo Māori alongside other indigenous and endangered languages in a framework designed to make such books findable by librarians, educators and parents worldwide.
The collection's full scope — how many titles were chosen in total, and from how many languages — has not been specified in the available sources. What is confirmed is that HUIA's six books are part of a first cohort, and that the selection process drew on expertise from both IBBY, the Swiss-based international organisation devoted to children's reading, and UNESCO, the United Nations agency for culture, education and science. (Publishing Perspectives)
