Northland kids to benefit from Kiwi Christmas Books charity

Tobias Alexander with some of the new books donated to Pahia Bookshop last year for Kiwi Christmas Books. The charity is collecting books at three Northland bookstores this year.

French poet and essayist Charles Baudelaire once said: “A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counsellor, a multitude of counsellors.”

Baudelaire’s passion for books and reading is well known and Northland children will get access to free books, and a multitude of wise counsel, this Christmas thanks to the Kiwi Christmas Books charity.

Three Northland bookstores – Paihia Post and Bookshop and Russell Post & Book Shop in the Far North and Storytime at Craniums in Whangārei – are the drop-off points in the region and organisers hope to top the 200 books donated in the region last year.

Writer Sonya Wilson, founder and executive director at Kiwi Christmas Books, said she was amazed at the generosity of people donating new books for the cause, which brightened up the lives of so many young people.

Wilson said while it’s Kiwi Christmas Books, they don’t have to be books about Christmas, in fact it’s better if they are not as they would be read year-round.

Neil Lambess, from Storytime at Craniums in Whangārei, with books already donated to the Kiwi Christmas Books charity. The store is one of three in Northland taking donations.

She said many people support Kiwi authors and authors here, by donating New Zealand books, which seem to be the most popular donations.

‘’Kiwi Christmas Books gifts brand new books to families whose children would otherwise go without at Christmas time,’’ Wilson said.

‘’We believe that good books help to build good people, so each year, we put thousands of quality Kiwi books into the hands of tamariki [children] and rangatahi [young people] whose families can’t afford to buy their own, or who struggle to access quality literature in general.’’

She said the children’s book-gifting charity is aiming to hit a huge donation milestone this Christmas – and they are calling on all book-loving Kiwis to help them do it.

Some of the Kiwi Christmas Books donated last year get delivered to the Mid-North Women’s Refuge.

Their charity hopes this year will see them crack that magic $1million mark – or an incredible 50,000 books – donated in total since they began.

“Times are incredibly tough out there, not just for those who receive our books, but also for many of those who usually donate them. But this small, targeted action – the act of one person buying a book with the intention of it being in the hands of another – is simple, achievable, and can be incredibly powerful,” Wilson said.

“Books are essential tools for helping a child thrive. Research shows that reading for pleasure has a huge impact on future success and is instrumental in both academic and emotional development. Books open up whole new worlds, whole new experiences for kids, particularly those who may be doing it pretty tough in their day-to-day lives. This is a small gift that can have a huge impact.”