Kiwis at War - book series launched at Auckland War Memorial Museum on 100th anniversary of commencement WW!

Scholastic New Zealand held the launch of the new Kiwis at War series at the Auckland War Memorial Museum yesterday, which was an auspicious day in terms of WWI commemorations. 

 A 100-gun salute at Parliament in Wellington yesterday morning marked the 100^th anniversary of the start of the First World War, and New Zealand was the first country to mark the centenary. There will be commemorative events held around the world over the next five years in remembrance.

The launch focussed on how the Scholastic series will tell the important New Zealand WWI stories to children. It was attended by around 100 guests, made up of friends and family of all five authors, teachers and librarians from a variety of schools, colleagues in the publishing industry, members of the RSA, including the President of the Auckland RSA and Dame Trelise Cooper, Patron of the Auckland RSA, who drew the winning raffle ticket for a stunning collection of Scholastic war books..The Bookman was there too; I found it a truly impressive evening with marvellous presentations by each of the five authors.I can't wait to read the books.

Publishing Manager Lynette Evans said in part in her impresive address to open the evening: 

‘Scholastic’s Kiwis at War journey goes back to early last year when the publishing and acquisitions teams decided that, as a trusted and long-established publisher of books for New Zealand children, Scholastic has the responsibility as well as the great privilege of reaching out to young people from the northernmost tip of Aotearoa to the deepest south in an effort to help Kiwi kids understand that the hard-won war medals of their great-grandparents are not dusty relics of the past. There are immense sacrifices and heart-wrenching stories behind each one, and we believe that it is important for these New Zealand stories to be told – and to be told in a meaningful and uplifting way, suitable for a youthful audience.’

The five authors were stars, each speaking about their particular topic, the research and writing process behind their war title and the links they are creating between each title. Scholastic will bringing  the four upcoming titles over the next four years with book one in the series, 1914: Riding into War now.published.

Photo below shows authors from right to left are Susan Brocker (1914), Diana Menefy (1915), David Hair (1916), Brian Falkner (1917), and Des Hunt (1918).