Tairua School students help to bring the book to life with their illustrations.
Tairua School students help to bring the book to life with their illustrations.
Tairua locals see their fair share of pesky seagulls swiping chips from picnics.
But during the coronavirus lockdown, the cheeky birds might have asked themselves "where have all the people gone?"
Local author Jenny Healey, who often writes from a bird or animal's point of view, has penned her thirdchildrens book Where Are All the People? from a seagull's point of view.
''It was inspired by lockdown. We were out for a walk one day and I noticed there were a lot of seagulls hanging around outside cafes. They're weren't doing much and were looking really sad.
''It's a bit of a running joke in Tairua — seagulls like their chips and will nick them off you — but suddenly there's no one around. I thought, 'I wonder what they are thinking? Where have all the people gone?'."
The story is about Karoro the seagull who finds there is no food and no one around so he sets about trying to find out where have all the people gone. Karoro meets other birds as he journeys around the Coromandel to find out what happened to all the people.
Where are all the People?, a book by Jenny Healey.
Jenny approached Tairua School and principal Murray McDonald suggested the children be involved in illustrating the book.
Room 4 students (years 4 and 5) took up the challenge.
They read the book and studied the characters, discussed what would go on each page and had a competition to see which students would draw the different native bird characters. Their preferred medium was pastels.
Teacher Tracey Mitchell the students experienced how much work goes into illustrating a book.
''They are so proud of the book and of their illustrations,'' she says. ''They come and get the school copy from me in their lunch break so they can read it and look at the illustrations they created.''
Jenny's husband Gary helped with photoshopping and formatting. Jenny is thrilled with the illustrations and how the book looks. She says it's better than she ever expected.
Where Are All the People? has been out since February and can be purchased at Thames i-SITE Visitor Information Centre, Tairua Information Centre, Carson's Bookshop in Thames or email jenny@jennyhealey.nz
