The week of the Pasifika festival culminates this weekend with the main festival happening at Western Springs. But if you can't get there and still want a taste of the Pacific, here are some ideas (from a purely personal point of view today) of the resources available from your local library.
- The Silent One - Joy Cowley. A child is washed up in a basket in the Cook Islands. He is reluctantly adopted by a tribe as his being a deafmute is considered a bad omen. Isolated Jonasi, as he is named, befriends and gains a mystic communion with a white sea turtle. But the turtle is also regarded as a bad omen by the tribe and when Jonasi steps in to protect it, he is ostracized. This story is 20 years old now but it is timeless and is a great place to start out countdown. It has also been made into a movie which is available from the library.
- Vaka Moana: voyages of the ancestors : the discovery and settlement of the Pacific / editor, K. R. Howe. Published in association with the Auckland Museum to accompany the exhibition of the same name held at the Auckland Museum, 9 December 2006 - 1 April 2007, and touring internationally until 2011. Chapters cover: the human settlement of the globe; origin and traditions of Pacific peoples; important findings in archaeology, linguistics and genetic studies; traditional canoe building and sailing techniques; pre-instrument navigational systems; ancient Pacific voyaging and trading routes; the arrival of the West and its impact on Pacific peoples; the modern revival by today's Pacific peoples of canoe building and traditional navigation. This award winning Book (Montana New Zealand Book awards, 2007) is a special combination of information and glorious colour plates that inspire the reader and will impress anyone who sees it on your coffee table.
- Overnight sensations : hotels for the discerning traveler : Asia Pacific / Philippe Kjellgren. The title says it all and if that wasn't enough the picture on the cover makes you just want to lie back and imagine the waft of breeze as you enjoy the warmth with a cocktail in your hand. It's not just the Pacific, but I love leafing through things like this and dreaming so much it had to go on the list.
- South Pacific [DVD videorecording] one ocean, 20,000 islands, a quarter of the world's water. The wildlife, culture and history of this immense ocean and its myriad islands are revealed in this series. Not the musical. If you are going to watch a DVD about the South Pacific you may as well make it one from the BBC and something that is as current as you can get. This 2010 two disc set ticks the boxes on both counts.
- The stuck there forever boat / Gillian Torckler ; illustrated by Bruce Potter. Tama's idyllic island life is changing. The surrounding sea is slowly flooding their land, the coral is dying and the fish have disappeared. Tama's family must move to a higher island, but his beloved nanny won't listen. What can Tama do to convince his nanny to leave? For my last choice today I am going picture book and local author. As well as talking about how climatic changes are affecting the islands, this book also has themes of family relationships especially with our grandparents.
The week of the Pasifika festival culminates this weekend with the main festival happening at Western Springs. But if you can't get there and still want a taste of the Pacific, here are some ideas (from a purely personal point of view today) of the resources available from your local library.
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