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In:Geopolitics and Activism in Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Edited by Giuliana Fenech and Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak
[Children’s Literature, Culture, and Cognition 18] 2026
► pp. 28–40

Chapter 2
The small girl who lives next door

Child language activism in New Zealand

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This chapter explores child language activism as a form of geopolitical agency through a close critical content analysis of a dual language picturebook from Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ), Te Kōtiro Nohinohi e Noho Patata Ana (The Small Girl Who Lives Next Door 2022). Language activists are groups or individuals who strive to protect their rights to use their languages in a range of places and contexts. In ANZ there is a rich history of language activism supporting the revitalization of ANZ’s indigenous language, te reo Māori. Through the lens of language activism, this chapter explores how the text and image of picturebooks can represent a form of “quiet” but powerful language activism led by children in a personal sphere. It offers a case study for the ways in which cultural heritage may be preserved, showing that the benefit of engaging with new knowledge, world views and language is the path to agency for the child protagonists in this story, and by extension for readers as future language activists.
Article outline
  • History of te reo Māori
  • te reo Māori in picturebooks
    • Te Kōtiro
  • Typographic analysis of the layout of languages
  • Visual analysis of layers of meaning
  • Conclusion
  • References
References (34)
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