Kitty Brown and Kirsten Parkinson developed the Reo Pēpi books out of a desire to produce really simple, user friendly bi-lingual board books in te reo Māori for Māori and Pākehā whānau alike.Their passion for Reo Pēpi grew from their own whānau. They are cousins through their tāua (Ivy and Mere Karaitiana) and grew up close in a tino ātaahua extended whānau. 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.