Born in Whanganui and thrown a packet of crayons at a young age, Rebecca showed a keen interest in art from the get-go. Rebecca’s family moved to Feilding where Rebecca attended Feilding Agricultural High School, and it was here where Rebecca furthered her interest in art and design taking as many creative classes as she could. Rebecca then attended Wellington Polytechnic enrolling in Contemporary Māori Design which led to a four-year degree program at Massey University in Visual Communications Design.
Experiences in the workforce in advertising agencies, saw Rebecca working on publications, rebrands, and campaigns in New Zealand and then in Toronto, Canada. It was when Rebecca had young children of her own, that her desire to create something special for them saw her combine her skills in art, writing and design to create them each a picture book. While living in Canada, Rebecca sang the songs of her childhood to her babies and was inspired by Piatarihi Beatrice Yates –Aunty Bea.
Piatarihi Yates created fun waiata mixing Te Reo with English and actions. One of her well known and loved waiata is One day a Taniwha. Rebecca followed in her footsteps to help her Canadian born Children learn some basic Te Reo kupu in a fun song with actions. Her first book Row, row, row your waka was an instant hit with children and quickly saw itself on the Nielsen best sellers list. Now a series, her books are a family project with her brother Richard working on the music, her brother in law Paul on vocals, and friends Tania and Justin on translation and cultural consultation.
Complete the form below to make an enquiry, this will be forwarded to the business, who would contact you back directly.
