Launch of remarkable children's book in Christchurch

Last night Scholastic and The Children's Bookshop launched the remarkable QUAKY CAT at the COCA Mair Gallery In Christchurch and I was delighted to be part of the large crowd that filled the gallery.
Gavin Bishop's original artwork was on display and most impressive it was too.
Both before and after the excellent speeches there were two long lines snaking across the Gallery, one line of people queuing to buy the book and the other line waiting for the author & illustrator to sign it. many were buying multiple copies, I saw one woman buy 10! Close to 250 copies were sold on the night which augurs well for the future of Quaky Cat.

MC for the evening and the first speaker was Rob Southam, Sales Manager and the Books in Homes Manager for Scholastic, who commenced formal proceedings by introducing the other members of the Scholastic team present -

"Neil Welham is our General Manager, Diana Murray is our Publishing Manager, Kathy Ross is our NZSO Manager and Lynne Andrews is the Scholastic Territory Manager for Christchurch and the upper South Island.

We are delighted to be here with you.


The idea for Quaky Cat came from award-winning children’s author Diana Noonan, who had been thinking about what she could do to help the people of Canterbury, especially thinking of the loss of so many pets, especially cats. We were overjoyed when award- winning illustrator Gavin Bishop came on board and the idea started to become a reality.
It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, and to thank, the creators of Quaky Cat - Diana Noonan and Gavin Bishop.


Before we start to talk about the detail of putting Quaky Cat together, there are three things to tell you:


• Firstly, only Christchurch Businesses have been used to create Quaky Cat.


• Secondly, Diana and Gavin have been especially generous. They have donated their royalties to Charities. For Diana it is Christchurch Women’s Refuge, and for Gavin it is Te Tai Tamariki –( they will tell you more about this later.) Scholastic is also donating part of the proceeds. Together with Diana and Gavin’s Royalties, 50% of Scholastic’s proceeds from Quaky Cat sales will be donated to charity.


• And thirdly, this week, over 14,000 free copies of the book have been sent by Scholastic, to Christchurch schools - as a gift to every Year 1 and 2 child!


Publishing a picture book is a process that usually takes, about 18 months to complete.
Diana approached us with the initial idea almost straight after the Quake in September. That Quaky has been published in less than 3 months is a real achievement!
Diana and Gavin both spent many, many hours crafting the story and illustrations, and where there is a will there is a way - everyone involved with the project - from the editing, to design, scanning and proofing, to printing, despatch and delivery, were inspired by the vision and worked as one.
And - here it is - piled up on the table about to be set off into the world and make a difference!


In addition to our very talented author and illustrator, there are a number of people we wish to thank. They are:


• Miles Ellery and the Canterbury Principals we approached - for expert advice on the content of the story

• Famous Cantabrians - Mayor Bob Parker, Margaret Mahy, and Jason Gunn for the warm words they supplied for us to include on the inside back cover.

• Kim Dovey, Anita McCleod and the team at Book Design for making Quaky their priority, and for making the text and the images sit so well together on the page. We know that Kim and Gavin personally visited the printers on a Saturday to pass on the files to the press – it was very reassuring for us to have that sort of care and attention in place – right here in Christchurch, on the ground.

• Mark Van Olst at Precision Group ensured that the artwork was scanned and proofed within the tight timeframe and to a very high standard.

• Steve Francis, Riana Bennett and the team at Spectrum Print pulled out all the stops to ensure a book we can be very proud of.

• Mark Skews, Alan Gilmour and the team at Castle Parcels provided free freight for the free books to the schools, and even came to the Scholastic warehouse to help pick and pack the boxes to be sent out.

• And Shelia and Mary from the Children’s Bookshop – who didn’t hesitate in partnering with us from the very beginning.


You can see by the number of people involved, and the timeline of Quaky Cat outlined on the memo board, that today we are not only celebrating the launch of a picture book, but an entire project!


All of the thinking that we have brought to Quaky Cat dovetails into a wider campaign that we at Scholastic are very proud of –a world-wide campaign,  a global literacy call to action called READ EVERY DAY LEAD A BETTER LIFE


READ EVERY DAY LEAD A BETTER LIFE is A CHILD’S RIGHT TO READ – 8 statements about the right of every child living in this world to read for a better life.

We urge you to help us spread the word".

Footnote:
Following Rob Southam's address Denise Torrey, President of the Canterbury Primary Principals Association, responded thanking Scholastic for the generous gift to the young children of Canterbury.

Diana Noonan stilled the audience by reading the entire book to us, and then speaking of her chosen charity, The Christchurch Women's Refuge, to whom she immediately passed over a cheque, followed by Gavin Bishop who addressed us and spoke passionately of his chosen charity Te Tai Tamariki.

Rob announced that    Scholastic is also donating part of the proceeds. Together with Diana and Gavin’s Royalties, 50% of Scholastic’s proceeds from Quaky Cat sales will be donated to charity. Based on the sales of Quaky Cat to date, and not taking any returns into account, it looks like we have raised over $25,000 for Diana and Gavin’s Christchurch charities!

And then it was over to the Deputy Mayor of Christchurch Ngaire Button to officially launch Quaky Cat, helped out by the entire audience.
A happy event.

And from TV3.

And CCTV - Go under the santa parade picture on the left, then to news headlines. Then the first story is Quaky Cat .

The Press http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/4447779/14-000-reasons-a-feline-can-help

Photo below, author & illustrator signing copies.

CARYS MONTEATH/The Press

COMING ALIVE: Author Diana Noonan and illustrator Gavin Bishop read their book Quaky Cat to a year 3 class at Avondale Primary School.