More than 4,000 young Kiwi booklovers in schools and libraries across the country attended a very special online event yesterday, where legendary author Joy Cowley read from her classic tale The Tiny Woman’s Coat (illustrated by Giselle Clarkson from Gecko Press) and answered questions about her love of reading, writing, and penning some of New Zealand’s most loved books.

The event was the last in the 2022 series run in a partnership between the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and HELL Pizza’s Reading Challenge, designed to inspire and instill a love of reading and books into young New Zealanders, especially as reading and literacy rates continue to decline. Research published by The Education Hub earlier this year revealed that by the age of 15, 35.4 per cent of teenagers struggle to read and write.

Seven bestselling authors, all past winners or finalists at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, have read to students this year through specially created online events, taking students into their world as they shared their stories, writing, illustrations, and creative inspiration.

For almost seven decades, Joy Cowley has dedicated her life to uplifting children through the magic of her stories and beloved characters, such as Mrs Wishy-Washy and Greedy Cat. Her book Dunger won the Junior Fiction Award at the NZ Post Book Awards 2014 and Snake & Lizard won Children's Book of the Year in 2008

Joy has long been an advocate for literacy, writing over 500 specialist books for children with reading difficulties and has worked closely with hundreds of these students across New Zealand, the United States and Singapore. She says these children taught her what they needed from a book.

“I knew there was no point in just giving them a book, so I talked about their lives and created stories around what they would tell me; I would always be sure to add humour because no child can be tense whilst laughing, and then add a little twist to the story at the end - like adding dessert after vegetables.”

Ben Cumming, HELL’s CEO, says having a luminary such as Joy Cowley join the live author series is an incredible finale for 2022.

“Since April, we’ve had more than 20,000 children tune into our seven live readings, which have featured the likes of Tania Roxborogh, Selina Tusitala Marsh, and Gavin Bishop. These authors have all been incredibly generous with their time and have each delighted the students that have attended.

“Teachers and educators have told us the live readings have helped guide in-class learning, with many using the readings as a springboard for class activities. As part of the Great NZ Book Trip, which is an extension to hugely popular Reading Challenge, we’ve also provided teacher-designed lesson plans linked to the New Zealand Curriculum as part of the offering, so teachers can fully integrate it into the classroom,” he says.

Remarkables Primary School teacher Angela Thompson says her Year Two class thoroughly enjoyed Joy Cowley's session and says interactions with authors and illustrators can be instrumental in instilling a love of reading in students, as well as prompting them to see themselves as writers too.

“As a school we’ve always been passionate about author and illustrator interaction, and the positive effect this has on literacy. An author talking through their writing process is so valuable to our students. Many of our classes tune in and our library always has an increase in requests for author titles after each talk,” she says.

Angela says the school’s Year 5 and 6 classes have also attended all the readings in the HELL Great NZ Book Trip, which has formed a positive link to learning when it comes to reading and writing.

In 2021, 1.8 million books were read by Kiwi kids as part of HELL’s Reading Challenge, and more than 7 million since its inception in 2014.

Schools and libraries participate for free in the Reading Challenge and Great NZ Book Trip.

You can find out more about the initiative here.