New collection of fables by award-winning duo

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For immediate release

New collection of fables by award-winning duo explores the foolishness of humankind

After the great success of their picture book The Immigrants, acclaimed author and illustrator Alan Bagnall and Sarah Wilkins have joined forces once more to bring us The Sam & Lucy Fables, a compilation of quirky tales and engaging illustrations targeted at children aged 5–9 that will delight readers young and old.

This new children’s book shares the adventures of two clever pigs, Sam and Lucy, who encounter many a troubled human friend with peculiar predicaments. From fixing magic carpets to teaching fish to read, Sam and Lucy solve each conundrum with some common sense and a lot of patience. Each fable reminds us to be kind, curious and a little bit adventurous.

New Zealand children’s book author and illustrator Gavin Bishop remarks, ‘I hesitate to use such an overused phrase, but I’m going to... this book is charming. The stories are light on their feet, airy and witty, and aimed without guile or pretence at children. In exactly the same mood, the illustrations dance perfectly in time with these little fables. As I said, this is a charming book.’

Alan hopes that Sam and Lucy’s solutions to our everyday issues will make us pause and reflect. ‘Sam and Lucy worry that our reactions to social and environmental problems are not based on science, common sense or rational concern. They are reminding us that for all our technological skills, we may not be the wisest or most considerate creatures on this planet. Perhaps we have become unbalanced and selfish.’

The Sam & Lucy Fables originally began in the School Journal in 1995 while Alan worked as a primary school teacher. ‘Having acquired so many entitlements and prejudices,’ Alan notes, ‘adults are often the blindest. These fables were all written in classrooms where the children contributed their ideas.’

Alan is no stranger to the New Zealand storytelling scene. Together, he and his wife, Jill, wrote stories and scripts for children’s television series Chatterbox produced in the 1980s. Alan’s contribution to children’s literature includes a vast number of Learning Media publications and poetry books, including 100 New Zealand Poems for Children and I’m a Big Bag of Bones and Other Poems. His previous book, The Immigrants, was a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards and listed as a Storylines Notable Picture Book in 2003. Since then, Alan has been kept busy as a relief teacher in addition to doing school visits organised by the New Zealand Book Council, encouraging a new generation of writers to create their own stories.

‘We at Mākaro Press believe that Alan Bagnall is a national storytelling treasure,’ says publisher Mary McCallum. ‘He was assistant publisher Paul Stewart’s favourite relief teacher at Muritai School – he loved the way Mr Bagnall would turn up with stories to tell and a bag of clay so they could make things. I’ve always admired Alan’s humour and facility with words in the many School Journal and Ready to Read stories he’s written, as well as the wonderful collaboration he did with Sarah Wilkins on The Immigrants, and Sam and Lucy are his two most delightful protagonists yet. Meanwhile, Sarah’s art is beguiling and works beautifully with Alan’s stories. You can tell they’re friends.’

Mary adds, ‘The Sam & Lucy Fables has a real feeling of warmth about it, and that will come through to the children and their families, and teachers and their classes who read it. We think it’s a beautiful production too, and that’s the result of the successful collaboration we’ve had with the Whitireia Publishing students who’ve taken the book through to publication.’

The Sam & Lucy Fables is due out on 20 October 2016 and will be available at all good bookstores in time for the perfect holiday gift. Fans can follow the hashtag #SamAndLucyFables on social media to see more of the pigs’ adventures. As Alan rightly puts it, ‘The world needs Sam and Lucy.’

About the author

Alan Bagnall is one of New Zealand’s most illustrious writers of children’s fiction and poetry. For over twenty years, he has contributed to Learning Media publications, including the School Journal and the Ready to Read series. His poetry has been published in 100 New Zealand Poems for Children and I’m a Big Bag of Bones and Other Poems. Alan’s previous book, The Immigrants, was a finalist in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards and listed as a Storylines Notable Picture Book in 2003.

About the illustrator

Sarah Wilkins is an internationally acclaimed illustrator renowned for her whimsical and elegant style of art. Her work has been featured in hundreds of publications and has made its mark on everything from buildings to accessories. The Immigrants, which was her past collaboration with Alan Bagnall, won the LIANZA Russell Clark Award for Illustration in 2003. Sarah’s work on children’s books includes A Book is a Book, which won the Storylines Notable Book Award in 2014.

Notes

The Sam & Lucy Fables by Alan Bagnall & Sarah Wilkins

Website: http://www.makaropress.co.nz/submarine-books/the-sam-and-lucy-fables

ISBN: 978-0-9941299-8-7

Publisher: Submarine (imprint of Mākaro Press)

Publication Date: 20 October 2016

Format: Paperback, 148mm x 210mm, 50pp

RRP: $25

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