CHILDREN'S CHOICE BLOG TOUR
FINAL DAY
AN
INTERVIEW WITH PHILIPPA WERRY ABOUT:
Waitangi
Day: The New Zealand Story
Children chose Philippa Werry’s book Waitangi Day: The New Zealand Story as a finalist on the Children’s
Choice list. Her book Anzac Day was a
finalist in the 2014 New Zealand Post Book Awards, and she is an experienced
writer of both fiction and non-fiction for children.
Philippa lives in Wellington, and is a full-time writer. We
asked her a few questions about her inspiration.
Note: These questions were
written by Sarah Forster Booksellers NZ
1.
How did the concept for Waitangi Day grow into a solid idea for you?
 |
| Philippa |
It started off as a pretty scary
idea, actually. Waitangi Day felt like a very big and challenging topic to take
on. But then I started to read up on it, and I came across some fascinating
stories, like the 1934 celebrations when the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe,
bought the Treaty House and gifted it to the nation. (He's the same person who
also donated the Bledisloe Cup, by the way.) This was a huge event – thousands
of people went to Waitangi – and I couldn't believe I'd never heard about it
before. I also tried to keep in my head the distinction between Waitangi Day
and the Treaty of Waitangi, which is an even bigger topic and one I didn't feel
qualified to write about. The fact that I was writing about the history of
Waitangi Day, not about the Treaty itself (which is why we didn't include the
text of the Treaty because there are plenty of other places you can access
that), helped me to get a focus on the material. But at the same time, I think
finding out about the history of Waitangi Day does help you to understand a lot
of Treaty issues more clearly.
2. What
were the main resources you used to do your research? Which of these shaped the
book the most?
I did a lot of reading – books,
reports, old journals and newspapers - both in libraries and online, going off
on all sorts of tangents, and I got lots of help from librarians and archivists
and other people who were very generous with their time and knowledge. But
going up to visit Waitangi was a big part of the research process. I'd been
there two or three times before, but not for some years, and everything I'd
been reading about suddenly made so much more sense when I was actually there.
I also visited some places I'd never been to before, like Oihi Bay, which is an
amazing and beautiful place.
 |
| Oihi Bay (photographer unknown) |
3. How
did you tailor this book to the age-group it reaches?
Like the Anzac Day book, we wanted this one to be filled with lots of
colourful and evocative images: photos, paintings, diaries, newspaper
advertisements, stamps, maps, cartoons. Finding those and getting permission to
use them took a long time, but it was worth it because I think the images make
a big difference to the book. I also tried to find stories about people and
events that were vivid and unusual, like Charles Kingsford-Smith taking people
on joyrides up to Waitangi for the 1934 Treaty House celebrations, or the "Stevie and Peewee" TV
advertising campaign in 1990.
4. Who
have you dedicated this book to, and why?
I didn't put a written dedication
in the book; it seemed like a very big topic to dedicate to one person. Writing
the book had a big impact on me personally , it was very hard but very
rewarding, and it prompted me to start learning te reo, partly because I wanted
to be able to start my school visits with a mihi or pepeha. So I ended up
spending a lot of time thinking about my family background (for the pepeha),
and in my head I think that the book is dedicated to our tupuna, our
ancestors.
5. Can
you recommend any books for children/young adults who love this book?
Yes! I came across some great books
set around the time of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, in particular
Fleur Beale's Mission girl, Anne De Roo's Jacky
Nobody, Diana Menefy's Shadow of the
Boyd and Paula Morris' Hene and the
Burning Harbour.
6. What
is your favourite thing to do when you aren’t reading or writing, and why?
I like to clear my head (and get
new ideas) by swimming or going for walks, and I like doing cryptic crosswords
because they are all about using words in funny and unexpected ways.
___
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| Philippa and Fleur Beale (see her interview on this Book Tour by going to the search box) at one of their many book launches (whose was it?) in 2008 |
Check out Philippa Werry’s website for more information about her:
THIS IS THE FINAL DAY OF
THE BLOG TOUR
This is the final day of the New Zealand Book Awards Children’s
Choice Blog Tour, and we hope that you have enjoyed following us along the
trail and learning a lot more about the authors in the meantime. NZ Booksellers
will do a round-up of all of the bits of information we have found out from the
authors, over on their blog tomorrow, Thursday 23 July. If you are going to
vote for these awards, please remember to do so, before Friday 31 July at www.booksellers.co.nz/vote-childrens-choice
or use the image below.
Sarah Forster NZ Booksellers
