Queenstowner Craig Smith’s best-selling children’s book The Wonky Donkey has finally been translated into te reo Māori just ahead of Māori Language Week kicking off this coming Monday.
Originally released in 2009, based on Smith’s song about a three-legged donkey, it sold about a million copies before a video in 2018 of a Scottish granny reading it to her grandson went viral, resulting in about 3 million more sales worldwide.
Smith says the book’s already been translated into at least 10 languages, including Braille, ‘‘so I would have preferred it to have been translated [into te reo] much earlier’’.
‘‘It’s really exciting for me, my daughter is part-Māori, and I know it’s really important to keep that culture alive.’’
Illustrated by Katz Cowley, the book’s been translated by Pānia Papa with a glossary translating all the Māori words — the title, Te Kāihe Kokikoki, actually translates as ‘the wobbly donkey’.
Local kaumatua Darren Rewi this week blessed the book at Queenstown Primary, which Smith first attended in 1977.
‘‘I’ve enjoyed reading this to my grandchildren, my mokopuna, and they love it, so to be able to take them on the journey in te reo is a great opportunity,’’ Rewi says.
Though the rhymes Smith used in his English version aren’t present, ‘‘I think with the Māori there’s a rhythm in how it’s spoken’’, he adds.
