Out of the Deep and other stories from New Zealand

Out of the Deep and other stories from New Zealand and the Pacific

This year New Zealand is the proud host of International Children's Book Day, a worldwide celebration of children's literature. To mark this special occasion, some of the big names in New Zealand children's literature have teamed up in Out of the Deep, a new anthology published in conjunction with Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust.

Out of the Deep and other stories from New Zealand and the Pacific

Edited by Tessa Duder and Lorraine Orman

Out of the Deep is children's publishing at its very best. Not only have 16 exceptional New Zealand and pasifika authors, including the inimitable Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley and Katerina Mataira contributed stories to this anthology but the book has been edited by Tessa Duder and Lorraine Orman, two leading lights in New Zealand children's literature.

'Stories Ring the World' is this year's International Children's Book Day (ICBD) motto and Out of the Deep draws on this, pulling together slices of Pacific and New Zealand life in a collection of children's stories that will captivate young readers. Most of the work within the book's pages is new; however, one or two favourites, including Margaret Mahy's 'The World's Highest Tray Cloth', add a sense of the familiar to the collection.

This anthology is a wonderful mix of styles, genres and settings. Contemporary stories with urban settings rub shoulders with traditional Maori myths, fantasy tales and stories with a pasifika flavour.

ICBD is held on April 2 every year to mark the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen. This year is a significant year for New Zealand in terms of our participation in this event: not only is this the first year New Zealand has hosted ICBD celebrations but it is also the first time New Zealand, through Storylines' membership of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People), has taken part in ICBD at all.

To celebrate ICBD, Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust is organising a mini festival in New Zealand from Saturday 31 March to Monday 2 April 2007. The festival will be launched at the annual Margaret Mahy Award and Lecture function in Auckland on 31 March and over the next two days public and school libraries across the country will bring book lovers together to celebrate their favourite children's stories.

SRP $34.99 IMPRINT Reed Children's Books RELEASE 29 March 2007

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