Avis Acres (1910–1994)

Hutu and Kawa are pohutukawa fairies, little blossom sprites. They will seem rather familiar to anybody who has read Cuddlepot and Snugglepie (who are Australian flower fairies), although I actually prefer Hutu and Kawa. Their adventures are gentler; Cuddlepot and Snugglepie tend to wreak havoc.

Americans will find not only exotic flora and fauna, but some other terms and objects that are puzzling to people who don't have any background in Maori culture. Despite being visually of European descent, the little pohutukawa fairies wear feather cloaks and carry flax kits (bags woven from flax) and make canoes with greenstone axes. On the one hand, you have to worry about cultural appropriation and dehumanizing Native populations. On the other hand, to an American eye it's refreshing that a book written in the 50s assumes that these things are familiar to all readers and are part of patterns of normal life; it's hard to imagine a similar book anthropomorphizing American flowers into white-appearing people who follow Native American traditions without comment or explanation.… (més)