Author Narine Groome and illustrator Caroline Della Porta with some of the original illustrations for the book being printed at Jeff Oliver Print. Dean Oliver is in the background. Photo / John Stone
The story of how a kiwi chick still in its egg survived being run over by a 13-tonne digger sounds like a tall tale, but it's a true tale being given new life by Whangarei children's author Narine Groome, with help from a local printing company.
The story could be
a winner internationally, but sending a new book off into the world is pretty much old hat for Jeff Oliver Print these days. The company is gaining a reputation for printing books on its off-set press, and expanding that side of the printing business led to the purchase of a state-of-the-art book binder machine six months ago.
Dean Oliver, director of the company his late father Jeff started in 1986, said the binder is ideal for printing self-published novels, catalogues and annual reviews that require high binding strength and durability.
Skipping the technical language and details, he describes it as "an awesome machine" that enables the company to produce beautiful, professional, high-end, perfect bound books. It can do run lengths from as little as 30 copies, as thin as 1mm to 51mm thick, with finished book sizes from A6 to oversized A4.
As well as enabling the whole printing process to be done in-house, in Northland, the new process cuts down the company's carbon footprint by not having to freight finishing jobs of this nature to specialist print finishing factories, Mr Oliver said.
