Washday at the pa is a 1964 illustrated children's book by Ans Westra that describes a day in the lives of a rural Māori family.
The book was originally published by the then School Publications Branch of the Department of Education, and printed by the Government Printer, but all 38,000 copies were withdrawn[1] following a campaign by the Māori Women's Welfare League that it would have a 'detrimental effect' on Māori people - and that the living conditions portrayed within the book were atypical. The subsequent August 1964 order by the Minister of Education caused a controversy[2] and all copies in schools were recalled and shredded, as were all unsold copies in the Government Bookshops chain.
Westra had the book republished the next year by the Caxton Press of Christchurch[3].
The book was updated in 2011 by Ans Westra and Mark Amery, to include other photos of the same family take in 1998.[4]