New Zealand Children's Picture Book of the Year 1994

Hinepau, a Maori woman with the sunset red hair and the greenstone coloured eyes is a weaver, but all of her weaving is inside out or back to front. Is she a witch? The rest of her tribe thinks so, so she is sent away to live on her own in a hut surrounded by a hundred flax bushes. There she sits all day weaving the patterns of nature into her weaving.

Meanwhile, back in her village a great meeting house is built but no care is taken to say the proper prayers and give thanks the the gods of the forest for providing the huge trees that are needed to construct the new building. On the night of the grand opening of the meeting house the volcano, at whose feet the village nestles, erupts and the next morning the whole tribe wakes up to find the countryside, for as far as a bird can fly, has disappeared under a thick blanket of ash. Is it their punishment to die slowly of hunger and thirst?

Hinepau, the outcast, saves her people in an unexpected way and in doing so she commits the ultimate sacrifice.

The heroine in this story, inspired by Gavin Bishop's Maori ancestry, carries his mother's name, an old family name which goes back hundreds of years. And like some of his family, she is Ngati Pukeko (Ngati Awa) from near Whakatane, on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand.

Reviews

"Gavin Bishop's work as both an author and illustrator of children's books has been acknowledged worldwide..."

"This is his second book based on his Maori ancestry. Hinepau carries Bishop's mother's name, an old family name which goes back hundreds of years. And like some of his family, she is Ngati Pukeko (Ngati Awa) from near Whakatane."

"Fantastic pictures.. are just one of the book's assets."

"Hinepau tells the tale of a struggle for acceptance that we can all relate to in some way. A great Kiwi epic that will become well read and loved as time goes by."

Leigh O'Connor, North Taranaki Weekender, NZ, January 1994

"I recommend that you read this book! Most of the story is sad, but it has a truly unpredictable ending."

Shea McDonald, Marfield School,The Daily news, Taranaki, NZ, April 1994

"Gavin Bishop recently turned to his ancestors with the fine story of his great-aunt Katarina. His most recent book bears his mother's name."

"Bishop's striking illustrations have a warmth of character and a strong sense of place."

Frances Plumpton, NZ, March 1994

"Hinepau is about a young lady who got sent away from her tribe because she could not weave. She also got sent away because she had sunset hair and pounamu eyes and they said she looked like a witch. After a couple of years some men came to cut down some Totara. They didn't say a karakia. When the whare was built the volcano erupted. That's all I'll tell you."

"It was good because it taught me that you have to ask for things."

"It is a good book because it has a message in it. The message is it doesn't matter what you look like. We are all people."

Anthony Solaese, Stephen McCombs, Emilia Christoforou from Clyde Quay School, City Voice, NZ December 1993