Award-winning and best-selling author Donovan Bixley with his new book The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra.
Award-winning and best-selling author Donovan Bixley with his new book The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra.
Award-winning Taupō author Donovan Bixley’s new book The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra was released earlier this week.
One of New Zealand’s most acclaimed picture book creators, Bixley has books published in 31 countries and awards as an illustrator, an author, and a book designer.
Among his many accolades, he has been the recipient of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand’s Mallinson Rendel Illustrator’s Laureate Award.
Bixley’s books have twice been selected for the International Youth Library’s White Raven Award, which annually lists the top 200 children’s books in the world.
In 2021, he was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to New Zealand children’s books.
He has illustrated biographies of Shakespeare, Mozart and Leonardo da Vinci to the hilarious hijinks of pussycats in planes in Paris in his Flying Furballs series, as well as more than 100 other books.
He is most well-known for his bestselling pre-school books such as The Wheels on the Bus and The Great Kiwi ABC Book, as well as his colourful and humorous retellings of the legends of Māui.
Donovan Bixley's illustrations in The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra.
The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra has been a passion project for Bixley, describing it as his The Lorax.
“One of my favourite books when I was growing up, and probably still now, was Dr Seuss’ The Lorax. It’s super colourful, vibrant and energetic and yet it’s got a really strong message to it,” Bixley said.
“Fifty years after it came out, it’s still beloved by kids. I’ve always wanted to write something like that.”
Bixley celebrated the publication of The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra with a book launch at Taupō Library on Wednesday afternoon.
The rhyming book is a thought-provoking yet fun story with an environmental theme, celebrating biodiversity.
Discover a fantabulous world where each creature plays its part in perfect harmony, with a honking of horns, a slither of scales and a bumbling buzz in the air.
“A lot of us have fallen in love with the natural world thanks to the great David Attenborough. About five or six years ago we were watching him talk about the importance of biodiversity and how the planet needs it to thrive,” he said.
“My wife said, ‘Imagine if all the animals on the planet were in an orchestra and they all had to play in harmony and if they don’t play in harmony, it all starts falling to pieces’. That was the inspiration, using the orchestra and music as a metaphor for the importance of biodiversity.”
Bixley said he wanted to make sure it was a hopeful story with a positive ending.
“I really dislike children’s books that dump adult problems or the problems of past generations on young readers who have just come into the world,” he said.
“I wanted to portray a positive message – look at the incredible biodiversity we have in the world, and we should look after it.
“I think it’s important to make books that are entertaining, and a lot of my books have been more on the fun side with a message but this book has definitely got more of a deeper message and meaning behind it that hopefully people will take on.”
The Fantabulous Animal Orchestra is available at all local bookstores.
Jesse Wood is a multimedia journalist based in Te Awamutu. He joined NZME in 2020.
