Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Covers come off books project

Merania Karauria
By Merania Karauria
Editor, Manawatū Guardian·Whanganui Chronicle·
3 Sep, 2013 06:47 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Hamish McDouall, author, lawyer and politician, holds his dictionary of 2200 pages, watched by adult learners from Literacy Aotearoa. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

Hamish McDouall, author, lawyer and politician, holds his dictionary of 2200 pages, watched by adult learners from Literacy Aotearoa. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

Wanganui was among the cities and towns throughout the country yesterday to launch the Travelling Books project that will see another 7000 books on the move.

The project was launched at Government House by Sir Jerry Mateparae and involves leaving books in public places for others to find, read and pass on.

Now in its third year, the Travelling Books project was initiated by Literacy Aotearoa and New Zealand Post, to foster a love of reading.

Kindergartens joined the Tawhero School community yesterday to hear local politician, lawyer and author Hamish McDouall and Whanganui Learning Centre manager Gail Harrison talk about the importance of reading.

Mr McDouall held up his dictionary with 2200 pages: "It's all about words ... all about language."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Travelling Book hunters will recognise the new releases by a distinctive sticker on the cover.

Inside the cover they will find easy-to-follow instructions on how to pass the books on once they have finished reading.

"Leave it in a dry place for the next person to pick it up and take it home to read," Mrs Harrison told the children.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Each book has a unique code inside the front cover, so anyone who picks it up and reads it is invited to log on to the Literacy Aotearoa website and record its title and location.

Everyone who reports a book sighting goes into a monthly draw to win one of two $50 Prezzy Cards donated by NZ Post.

Huia Publishers, Random House, Gecko Press and Scholastic all offered generous discounts to support the project.

Among the children's selection of 11 books are Dinosaur Rescue - Stego Snottysaurus by Kyle Mewburn and Donovan Bixley, Ta Tarau o Papa Koroua by Joy Watson, and Margaret Mahy's Organ Music.

Seven books are in the young adult fiction category, 10 in the adult fiction, and nine in the adult non-fiction, which includes Julian Arahanga's Born to Fly - the Story of John Pohe.

Mr Pohe grew up in Putiki and Taihape and was one of the 76 Allied air force officers who escaped from a WWII prisoner of war camp in Poland. The film The Great Escape was based on their exploits. Mr Pohe and two other New Zealanders were among those recaptured and who were shot on Hitler's orders.

Literacy Aotearoa chief executive Bronwyn Yates said the aim of the project was to make books readily available to New Zealanders everywhere.

"It highlights the power of giving, builds community and is a practical, grassroots approach to promoting literacy," Ms Yates said.

The ultimate aim was to raise people's awareness that adult literacy was a major national issue.

"We are celebrating literacy in a way that focuses on the positive and fun aspects of reading, learning and expanding our worlds,"she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

11 Jul 05:02 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

Why Ruapehu voted against bigger water model

11 Jul 05:02 AM

Officials say a multi-council body would save their community $40 million.

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

Search for missing man continues after car pulled from river

10 Jul 11:09 PM
Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

Community group seeks to manage historic reserve

10 Jul 06:00 PM
Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

Chaos as Ruapehu council rejects officials' advice on water

10 Jul 03:15 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP