Duffy Books in Homes founder Alan Duff will visit eight Far North schools next week.
Back in the country for a meeting of the Alan Duff Charitable Foundation in Kaitaia, the Once Were Warriors author will spend three days touring the Far North, speaking to children and parents.
In 1993, when visiting Camberley School in Hastings, Duff found most pupils had no books in their homes. This realisation was the moment that sparked the creation of a charitable foundation which now reaches more than 100,000 children in almost 750 schools and early childhood centres.
Duff, now living in France, still plays an active part in the organisation which bears his name.
He regularly visits schools when in New Zealand and delights in being able to gift books to pupils who ask him interesting questions - or provide interesting answers to his.