Watercress Tuna meets the children of Champion St. Porirua

Tu Tangata, Issue 24, 1 June 1985, Page 36

Watercress Tuna meets the children of Champion St. Porirua

Book launchings invariably consist of mountains of guests, speeches, food and books on sale afterwards.

The launching of the children’s book Watercress Tuna written by Patricia Grace and illustrated by Robyn Kahukiwa was most enjoyable because it was the children’s day and I had my four children with me.

There were no mountains to climb that day, just a pleasant sit back and listen to the book’s heroes singing.

The book uses the children of Cannon’s Creek Primary School to portray a lovely world in which all cultures appreciate each other.

It was this very theme that made for such a unique book launch, I pointed out to my children that the children they had seen in the book were real kids and we’d see them at the book launch.

That we did, and it was a pity that the monocultural school my children attend in Ngaio could not share in such a

celebration.

However it was left to the headmaster of Cannon’s Creek School to sound the only sour, if perhaps realistic, note of the day, and speak of the graffitti just freshly daubed on the school that weekend, and also of a school pupil who had just gone into welfare custody that morning.

That multiculturalism is not rosy tinted spectacles is accepted but that isn’t the purpose of Watercress Tuna.

Negative comments like the headmaster’s will always be spoken when an entrenched position is being threatened with light and understanding. This I feel is the wonder of Watercress Tuna, the wonder of children accepting each other before they pick up grownup prejudice which sometimes masquerades as realism.

For me the day was won by the children.

PW