Kitty Brown and Kirsten Parkinson developed the Reo P?pi books out of a desire to produce really simple, user friendly bi-lingual board books in te reo M?ori for M?ori and P?keh? wh?nau alike. Their passion for Reo P?pi grew from their own wh?nau. They are cousins through their t?ua (Ivy and Mere Karaitiana) and grew up close in a tino ?taahua extended wh?nau. After education, travelling, living overseas, careers and having children, they both returned to their rohe, living in the same little village, Portobello on the Otago Peninsula.