JOY COWLEY Author 1936-
New Zealand's most prolific author and champion of children's literacy
At 82, Joy Cowley continues to write, study, facilitate spiritual retreats and enjoy the company of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Since 1953 when, aged 16, she edited the children's page of The Manawatu Daily Times, Cowley has written more than 600 books.
While she is best known as a children's author, her first book was the novel Nest in a Falling Tree which was adapted for the screen by Roald Dahl and became the 1971 film The Night Digger. Cowley continued writing novels and short stories but, simultaneously, was helping thousands of New Zealand children learn to read.
In the late 1960s, the Levin-born author wrote stories for one of her sons who was having difficulty learning to read. Some were published in the New Zealand School Journal; others were used to home-made big books in classrooms. A decade later, Cowley worked on the Story Box educational reading programme published by Wendy Pye. That led to picture and chapter books featuring much-loved characters like Mrs Wishy Washy and Snake and Lizard.
