Maori Tales of Long Ago is a fresh facsimile edition of a classic collection of sixteen stories adapted from Maori mythology for a young readership. The tales were originally published by A.W. & A.H. Reed during the late 1940s in two hardback volumes, Maori Tales of Long Ago and Wonder Tales of Maoriland. Best-sellers of their time, they gave a generation of New Zealand children a lyrical introduction to the world of Maori mythology. In each story, a myth is narrated and brought to life by genial old Popo, the village storyteller and friend of the chief's son and daughter, Rata and Hine. Now in a new paperback edition, this book faithfully keeps the charming original line drawings by A.S. Paterson, including eight illustrated colour plates. It contains a foreword from David Simmons, a distinguished ethnologist, former assistant director of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and author of several books on Maoritanga.