BOOK

Ruatara

RUATARA. New Zealand’s colonial history began when Samuel Marsden found his young Maori friend Ruatara near death on a convict ship bound for Australia. Five years earlier Northland chiefs, Te Pahi and Hongi Hika, concerned about the negative influence of whalers and traders on the Maori people, had invited Marsden to New Zealand. The Boyd…

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WRITTEN BY

Jan Pendergrast

About This Book

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RUATARA. New Zealand’s colonial history began when Samuel Marsden found his young Maori friend Ruatara near death on a convict ship bound for Australia. Five years earlier Northland chiefs, Te Pahi and Hongi Hika, concerned about the negative influence of whalers and traders on the Maori people, had invited Marsden to New Zealand. The Boyd burning delayed this plan; it was now too dangerous to bring settlers to New Zealand. Once in Australia Marsden cared for Ruatara on his farm at Paramatta. Later he helped Ruatara introduce European agricultural skills to Rangihoua Pa at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brought peace between tribes, a peace also facilitated by the successful introduction of wheat and vegetable crops. Join Ruatara and Marsden on their adventures as they begin this shared journey towards a better New Zealand-Aotearoa. Simon Fletcher’s illustrations bring more life to this historical story, for ten to fourteen year-olds and older. Ruatara is $20.

Email: jan@roads-end.co.nz
Writer: Jan Pendergrast

Ruatara

About The Writer

Jan Pendergrast

Jan Pendergrast

JAN PENDERGRAST was the Treasurer and Membership Secretary of NZ Christian Writers for eight years, and has been a member for 18 years. Married to Hans, Jan writes stories based on experiences on their Bay of Plenty hill-country farm surrounded by native forest. Children from four to eight enjoy her picture books 'Tui’s Friends' and 'Pop’s Busy Blue Truck'. 'Dam Disaster' and 'Hut Hangout', Easy Reads for six to ten year-olds, are about the antics of two friends on the farm. 'Powerful Punctuation' is a ‘first-stop’ reference for your punctuation dilemmas. And 'Ruatara' is a novelette about the role Ruatara played in bringing Samuel Marsden to NZ.  Jan, a school librarian, is a Board member for DayStar Books.

Photo: Jan Pendergrast

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