Two years ago, children’s author
Diana Noonan, illustrator Gavin Bishop and Scholastic New Zealand launched a
very special picture book, Quaky Cat, which was created in record time
in response to the September 2010 earthquakes in Canterbury. At the time,
Scholastic gifted 15,500 copies of the book to Christchurch school children.
On this second anniversary of its
publication, Scholastic’s South Island Territory Manager Lynne Andrews has
visited St Paul’s School, previously in Dallington, Christchurch, which
received copies of Quaky Cat delivered by Gavin Bishop and Scholastic
staff on the day of its launch, to find how the school and its students have
fared.
In December 2010, the students of
St Paul’s School were being taught in the hall at Cathedral College. By
February 2011, the school had moved into an old technology block at the
College, proud of their freshly painted classrooms and grateful to be there.
After the 22 February earthquake, the school had to relocate again, this time
to a disused Ministry of Education property in St Albans, where they remain
today.
Their premises in Dallington were
red stickered and it was announced last October that the school is proposed to
merge with Our Lady of Fatima, which will be the fourth relocation of the
school since the earthquakes.
“I take my hat off to these
teachers!” says Lynne Andrews. “Students who still attend St Paul’s School are
being bussed in from their original suburb of Dallington. The upheaval and
turmoil must be immense.”
On the day of the launch of Quaky
Cat, a small boy earnestly chose his best pen to write his name on the
bookplate of his copy of the book. He and his family have now moved to Dunedin.
In the summer of 2010/11, Deputy Principal Damian Young visited school families
and was invariably asked to read a story to the children, and much-thumbed
copies of Quaky Cat were frequently the book of choice.
This week, speaking to Lynne
Andrews, memories of being given Quaky Cat came flooding back to three
of the students who are still at St Paul’s School. Sophia remembers ‘the tall
man who painted it [telling us] how we all had the brush at home and could do
it too – it was a toothbrush!’, while Learna says that ‘you could feel the
rumble and the bricks fall on the journey.’ The students shared stories of
rabbits and cats going missing, drawing parallels between Quaky Cat’s
Tiger, the cat who went missing after the earthquakes, and their own pets. When
asked if they still have their copies of the book, the answer was a deafening
‘yes!’, and they are still reading it now. ‘It reminds me of the earthquake,’
says Jade.
The impact of Quaky Cat
surpasses the expectations of any of its creators. Far more than a fundraiser,
it has provided comfort to children and families who experienced the
earthquakes. The book helped them ‘get used to the earthquakes and not to be
scared … [it] helps loads of little kids and makes them believe and be safe no
matter what,’ says Sophia. ‘It helped me every day.’
‘Whenever I was sad, I picked up Quaky
Cat and asked for it to me read to me,’ says Jade. ‘Same,’ adds Learna.
At the time of the book’s launch,
no one imagined what was to hit Christchurch on 22 February 2011, but all those
involved were thankful that Quaky Cat was there to give comfort to
children when the next disaster struck.
To date, this remarkable book has
raised over $156,000 for Christchurch charities Women’s Refuge, Te Tai Tamariki
Children’s Literature Charitable Trust and the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral
Appeal. In July this year Scholastic launched it as an App for the iPad,
available via iTunes, with proceeds continuing to be donated to charities.
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