E Oma, Rapeti - Te Rapu Kura. Run, Rabbit - Treasure Hunt product reviews

We all know the sort of person who gives you just enough information to make you curious, who expects you to ask relevant questions. Sometimes it if difficult to know what they really want; they can get quite snippy if you do not rise to the bait. Mr Five was confused at first. He kept trying to physically separate the first two pages in case they had stuck together because the story appeared to start abruptly. I had to explain to him that the technique was deliberate; Rapeti was trying to provoke his friends into interacting with him. Mr Five thought that was silly until he realised that the friends were highly intrigued so they were then motivated to join Rapeti on his treasure hunt.

Treasure hunts are fun for children of all ages. Many festivals, both religious and secular, include them in the celebrations, with prizes ranging from chocolate eggs to lucky-dip style wrapped parcels to coins and jewellery. Geocaching is probably the latest version of the treasure hunt, with people using GPS to arrive first at a coordinate. Rapeti's treasure hunt, however, is less sophisticated and probably a lot more fun. The friends bond over their shared goal and the fear that darkness might fall before they have discovered it.

There is a lovely graphic near the start of the story where the friends are all marching in height order behind Rapeti, who is proudly leading the way. The diversity among his friends is very evident here; big Hipi comes first, followed by Pukeko, and then Heihei. Little Piwakawaka beings up the rear; although he is flying, he is really the shortest of the company. The interaction between them is relaxed and positive as each friend tries to help Rapeti by making helpful suggestions.

When Rapeti finally finds his treasure - their friend Ngata, the snail - he refers to him as "Ko ta tatou kura" - "Our treasure", emphasizing that Ngata is precious to all of them. Right from the start, he has
referred to the missing treasure as something that is a shared taonga. Mr Five was overjoyed when he realised that Ngata was featured in this story. After reading a previous book in the same series (Te Rehi, The Race), he had been inspired to draw his own impression of Ngata, so at this point he had to go and try to find it!

As all good children's stories do, this one has a happy ending. I was hoping Ngata would smile, but he makes do with pressing his face against Rapeti's nose. It might not be a real hongi but it is a good effort!