The Dynamic Kiwi Publishing Company Supporting Mental Health Of Our Tamariki

The publishing team behind Tu Meke Tales bestselling children’s books are proud to partner with new mental health educator Mitey.

Tu Meke Tales is a Kiwi company founded by iconic stencil artist FLOX (Hayley King); award-winning screen editor and bestselling author Malcolm Clarke; and independent publishing company Little Love. Clarke’s passion for creating content resulted in him becoming a core contributor to popular entertainment television shows, including ‘America's Got Talent’ and ‘The Voice UK.’

Clarke says, “The Tu Meke team are passionate about supporting mental health and wellbeing. We work hard to model connection, kindness and conservation in everything we do. Our inclusion in Mitey’s toolbox of resources is a fantastic opportunity to further tautoko (support) those values. The units Mitey designed with our books Tu Meke Tuatara! and Tu Meke Tui! celebrate friendship, connectivity, and community. I can't think of a better alignment for us.”

Mitey operates under the umbrella of the Sir John Kirwan Foundation, which aims to transform the lives of young New Zealanders by normalising mental health education in schools. Their dynamic online resource will equip teachers with tools to develop and nurture children’s emotional literacy and resilience skills, as part of daily school life.

Among the cornerstones of Mitey’s educational platform are Clarke and FLOX’s books Tu Meke Tuatara! and Tu Meke Tui!, to help super-charge the emotional wellbeing of our primary and intermediate school children, aged 5 to 13 years. Experts say embedding mental health education into schools for this age group will play a key role in turning around New Zealand’s poor statistics.

Tu Meke Tuatara! and Tu Meke Tūī! encourage children to be kind, help others and talk about their feelings. The book captures the mood of contemporary Aotearoa by demonstrating the power of kindness, empathy, and friendship, as well as encouraging tamariki to do their bit to protect the environment.

Tu Meke Tuatara! is the second book from Tu Meke Tales. Their first, Tu Meke Tūī!, has now sold over 20,000 copies and in 2019 was adapted for the stage and presented in partnership with Auckland Live, to sell out audiences and rave reviews.

The reo Māori version of Tu Meke Tūī! translated by Evelyn M Tobin received critical acclaim, winning a coveted NZ Book Award for Children and Young Adults in 2018: The Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for the best book in reo Māori and now features on the IBBY honour list.

The Tu Meke team are thrilled to be offering whānau more editions of their bestselling books, with the soon to be released editions of Tu Meke Tuatara! in both English and Te Reo paperbacks.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Tu Meke Tales is a dynamic partnership between Malcolm Clarke, Flox, and Little Love. The books they publish celebrate courage, kindness, and conservation. They also emphasise the importance of creating a positive connection with our native world through literature. This is a series built on aroha. Aroha for tamariki, books, reading, the environment and each other.

Mitey is a research driven approach for schools to enable teachers to incorporate mental health education and wellbeing into the life of every school day. Mitey took two years to develop in partnership with education specialists at the University of Auckland and co-designed with a range of schools and communities.

The Sir John Kirwan Foundation is a registered charitable trust set up by Sir John Kirwan, in response to the alarming number of children experiencing mental health issues in New Zealand. The Foundation’s purpose is to be transformational by enabling New Zealanders to have the best mental health in the world.

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