Transcript
SHANE ROSEMEYER: I started off writing mainly fun stories for my kids, and kind of like Kiwiana ones [and] started selling them to preschools and kindys and people just started asking for Maori and Pasifika books and resources, so it started off and it's just grown over 12 years to what it is today.
INDIRA STEWART: I can imagine there are very minimal resources especially in ECE as well as primary schools in terms of having reading books [and] Pacific literature for children.
SR: Yeah, I'm trying to fill a little niche area in the market and like I was saying there is a lack of resources so I'm just trying to take the little spots that the big publishers won't fill, so it's worked really well for me over the years - by providing a service.
IS: So are these in Pacific languages, or are they English stories about Pacific stories?
SR: So typically the resources are to help people learn the beginnings of a language. It's much in the words and phrases - greetings, colours numbers, animals, food. So we do lots of simple counting books and and alphabet books in different languages.
IS: And what nationalities do you cover?
SR: I've got Samoan, Tonga, Niuean, Cook Island Maori, Fijian, Tokelauan.
IS: You've got French there.
SR: Yeah, I'm starting to get into international languages - I'm doing Hindi and French and Portuguese and I'm going to grow that series as well. So there's quite a demand because the world's quite multicultural now.
IS: Especially in the Pacific - there's French Polynesia as well - so that covers a whole range of different islands as well. What nationality are you?
SR: I'm Pakeha and I'm half Indian as well.
IS: So do you get other people to help you out with the translation?
SR: Yeah, I try and get at least one or two people to check each book over and whatnot. I don't speak any of the languages, but I bring in experts for that.
IS: And who are you published by?
SR: I'm self-published. I print locally in New Zealand and I've been going for about 12 years. My website if jjj.co.nz - which stands for Jahri Jah Jah and you can see my whole range of products on that site. Feedback has been really positive so that's what encouraged me to carry on and continue.
IS: would you consider taking these resources to outside the Pacific region?
SR: Yeah, I've got some of my books in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands... I'm going to Samoa this year so I'll try and take come with me and maybe hand out a few for free but try and get them into some of the shops and touristy destinations as well.
