Pounamu Pounamu, 1972 (rewritten 2003)
The New Net Goes Fishing, 1977
Dear Miss Mansfield, 1989
Kingfisher Come Home, 1995
Ihimaera: His Best Stories, 2003
Ask the Posts of the House, 2008
The Thrill of Falling, 2012
Tangi, 1973 (expanded as The Rope of Man, 2005)
Whanau, 1974 (rewritten as Whanau II, 2004)
The Matriarch, 1986 (rewritten 2009)
The Whale Rider, 1987 (rewritten 2002)
Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies, 1994
Nights in the Gardens of Spain, 1995
The Dream Swimmer, 1997
The Uncle’s Story, 2000
Sky Dancer, 2003
The Trowenna Sea, 2009
The Parihaka Woman, 2011
White Lies (novella, with film script by Dana Rotberg), 2013
Sleeps Standing (novella, with Hēmi Kelly), 2019
Whale Rider (John Barnett, South Pacific Pictures), Associate Producer, 2002
Kawa (Christina Milligan and Nicole Hoey, Cinco Cine Film Productions),
adapted from Nights in the Gardens of Spain, 2010
White Lies (John Barnett, South Pacific Pictures),
adapted from Medicine Woman, 2013
Mahana (Robin Scholes, Jump) adapted from Bulibasha, King of the Gypsies, 2019
The Little Kowhai Tree, text, 2002
Whale Rider Picture Book (with Bruce Potter), 2002
The Amazing Adventures of Razza the Rat, text, 2006
The Astromancer (with Isobel Joy Te Aho-White), 2022
Maori, contemporary history, 1975
Into the World of Light, editor (with D.S. Long), 1982
Vision Aotearoa, editor (with Roz Capper), 1994
Te Ao Marama 5-volume Maori Writing, editor (with Haare Williams and Irihapeti Ramsden), 1992–1996
Mataora, The Living Face, editor (with Robert Jahnke, Sandy Adsett and Derek Lardelli), 1997
Land, Sea, Sky (with photographer Holger Leue), 1998
On Top/Down Under (with photographer Sally Tagg), 1998
Growing Up Maori, editor, 1998
Where’s Waari?, editor, 2000
Get on the Waka, editor, 2007
Māori Boy, memoir, 2014
Black Marks on the White Page, editor (with Tina Makereti), 2017
Pūrākau, editor (with Whiti Hereaka), 2019
Native Son, memoir, 2019
Navigating the Stars, 2020
Waituhi: The Life of the Village, opera libretto, composer Ross Harris, 1984
The Clio Legacy, cantata libretto, composer Dorothy Buchanan, 1991
Tanz Der Schwane, opera libretto, composer Ross Harris, 1993
The Two Taniwha, play, producers Vapi Kupenga and Miriama Evans, 1994
Symphonic Legends, composer Peter Scholes, 1996
Woman Far Walking, play script, 2000
Galileo, opera libretto, composer John Rimmer, 2002
The Wedding, ballet scenario, choreographer Mark Baldwin, composer Gareth Farr, 2006
Whale Rider on Stage, adaptation, Logan Brewer Productions, 2008
Whero’s New Net, play, adapted by Albert Belz, 2008
Kaitiaki, orchestral libretto, composer Gareth Farr, 2011
Ihimaera, stage production, producer Charlotte Yates, 2011 (available on CD and DVD)
What Really Happened at Waitangi?, TV documentary, story consultant, producer Robin Scholes, 2011
Sky Dancer, composer Gareth Farr, 2013
Waiata Aroha, song cycle, composer Rod Biss, 2013
His First Ball, adaptation, director Ruth Dudding, 2014
The Whale Rider Puppet Show, adaptation, Tim Bray Productions, 2014
Flowing Water, opera libretto, composer Janet Jennings, 2018 (available on CD)
Man, Sitting in a Garden, opera libretto, composer Kenneth Young, 2019
Witi’s Wāhine, stage production, Nancy Brunning, 2019
Love in the Time of Covid, loveinthetimeofcovid.com, Michelle Elvy, 2020