Henry the great escaper is now the main character not only in owner Angi Pearce's life but in her first published book, Henry Houdini.
Henry the great escaper is now the main character not only in owner Angi Pearce's life but in her first published book, Henry Houdini.
From a life full of adventures living in and starting a school in India to returning to New Zealand and making Hastings her home, Angi Pearce has always loved writing and telling stories.
Now a fulltime Kōwhai Specialist School teacher and a part-time writer, Pearce is set to publish her first children’s picture book, Henry Houdini, this month.
Pearce, 58, said she has always wanted to write children’s books and she gets her inspiration from life events that she wants to teach to children in a fun way.
“As a teacher, I see the value and absolute importance of instilling in children from a young age a love of books and encouraging them to become passionate about reading.”
Henry Houdini is based on the Pearce family’s 13-year-old dog, who likes to go exploring beyond the walls of his property. His owners decide they need to do something to stop his roaming, but will they be successful?
“Rhyme is one of the foundational skills for learning to read, so I see it as a very important way to not only capture children’s interest but also to teach them to recognise rhyme.”
She started writing when she was 14 and getting a book published has always been a dream. However, she had several rejections from publishing companies over the years.
“In New Zealand, the traditional publishing companies prefer to publish books from already-published authors, making it near impossible for those of us trying to get started,” she said.
Eventually, she found Your Books, a Wellington company that offers an affordable way to self-publish.
She also had to find an illustrator she could afford. She found the perfect person through Facebook after a friend posted a painting that her goddaughter Anya Whyte had done of her dog.
“It was such a stunning picture that I asked if she might consider illustrating my book,” Pearce said.
Much like Pearce’s writing, art is a hobby for Whyte so it took her a while to finish the illustrations.
“I just hung in there until she was finished,” Pearce said. “She created each image digitally and they are so detailed, you’d almost think they were photos.”
When asked if she thought Henry Houdini could be the next Hairy Maclary, she said: “I would hate to take away from the character Lynley Dodd created in Hairy Maclary.
“A lot of people have asked me if Hairy Maclary was my inspiration, but the simple answer is no. Henry Houdini is inspired only by Henry himself and his antics and ... the fact that it is in rhyming form is simply because that is how I like to write my children’s stories.”
She loves Hairy Maclary and her boys grew up knowing all his stories and being able to recite Slinky Malinki from cover to cover by the age of 2.
Pearce is not yet sure if there will be more Henry Houdini stories.
“He is elderly in dog years now and half-deaf and half-blind. He does still escape whenever he’s given the chance, but I am not sure if he will get any more stories or not.”
However, she feels she has “many more books and stories inside” her, with one already written that has yet to be illustrated.
“Life is busy, but as I look towards retirement (not for at least another 10-12 years), this could be a possible hobby turned into a side hustle to supplement retirement income.”
Henry Houdini will be launchedat Hastings Library on April 28 at 2.30pm.
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing at the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with NZME for almost three years and has a strong focus on what’s going on in communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffares@nzme.co.nz.
