A letter from our Founder:

Nesa Tuigamala Prasad

Talofa lava! Welcome to LEGACY BOOKS NZ TRUST. My name is Nesa Tuigamala Prasad - Founder, Author, Teacher and Publisher. I was born in Samoa and my villages are Faleasi’u, Sa’anapu and Taga in Savai’i. I am married to Umesh Prasad who is from Ba, Fiji. We have 6 amazing children who we love dearly and we also serve as associate Pastors at our local church.

I am passionate about creating our books in print and various formats that promote literacy in our Pasifika languages, cultural awareness, and faith. By engaging with stories that are familiar to students - Bible Stories - in both their native language and a second language, we can help them to develop the skills they need to succeed in all academic subjects and in life. Our current selection includes a Pasifika Collection of 10 languages. We plan to expand our selection of languages in the future to reach a wider audience of bilingual children globally.

Our books are now in Italian with English translations and are now in Italy.

We are committed to producing high-quality books that promote a love for reading, learning, and cultural diversity. We believe that our books will help children to develop important reading comprehension skills, such as inferencing, questioning, and critical thinking, while fostering a deeper understanding of different cultures and their Pasifika languages.

Our Story

Legacy Books: Bridging Cultures Through Bilingual Literacy

Legacy Books is dedicated to creating, designing, and publishing bilingual readers specifically for Pasifika students, retelling Bible stories in Pasifika languages. Our journey began in 2020, after completing my Masters of Education (Hons) with a focus on the reading comprehension levels of Pasifika children. My research revealed that familiar texts—such as Bible stories in their home languages—combined with digital tools, could significantly enhance and accelerate reading comprehension.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Legacy Books embarked on its first series, "In the Beginning: Creation Story," to address the scarcity of familiar texts - Bible stories -tailored for school classrooms. Our books are developed in alignment with the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) to ensure academic success for Pasifika students. Each story is presented in both Pasifika languages and English, with translations provided directly underneath for quick word associations.

Our Goal

Our bilingual books aim to support the use of familiar texts in schools, reinforcing the cultural capital that children bring from home—language, culture, and identity. By integrating these elements into the classroom, we strive to:

• Enhance Pasifika students' linguistic and cultural practices.

• Preserve Pasifika languages within educational settings.

• Strengthen the engagement between home and school communities.

Legacy Books empowers families to confidently read to their children in Pasifika languages, while also increasing their understanding of English. We believe that by fostering bilingual literacy and cultural pride, we can contribute to the academic and personal growth of Pasifika children worldwide.

We invite you to join us on this journey of cultural preservation and academic excellence, nurturing a love for reading and lifelong learning across generations.