Author brings international reading charity to NZ

Wellington author brings international reading and literacy charity to New Zealand

When Wellington science fiction and fantasy author Doug Van Belle licensed his new young reader novel The Kahutahuta to the FundABook reading and literacy charity, he had one non-negotiable demand, FundABook had to bring its Books-in- Schools program to New Zealand. Now FundABook New Zealand is set to launch with a massive book giveaway, awareness and fundraising event at the Wellington Armageddon Expo.

“Getting FundABook set up in New Zealand turned out to be far more of an undertaking than I expected,” Doug explained. “The laws don’t line up very well and the logistics have been a nightmare, but we did it and now we’ve got 10,000 books on their way down here. We’ll be giving them away at the Wellington Armageddon, collecting donations, signing up schools to participate in the free book programmes, and looking to add corporate sponsors."

“FundABook prints its own editions of the books we give away. That not only cuts the costs dramatically, it also allows us to put sponsors’ logos on the covers to provide a lasting reminder of their generosity,” Doug said. “And we can change the covers around for just a few hundred books. So we’re particularly well set up to work with smaller, local businesses, or groups of local businesses who would like to sponsor local schools."

The Kahutahuta is Doug’s fourth novel, but it’s his first foray into stories for younger readers and he admits to being a pleasantly surprised by the response. He describes most of his fiction as a bit edgy and intended for mature audiences, but The Kahutahuta is one of the stories he made up for his daughters when they were growing up and it is definitely one for the whole family. The hero is a little girl called Katie and the story is about bravery and puzzle solving. Violence is never a solution and accepting the imperfections of life is as important as trying to do the right thing.

Who would have thought that a normal little girl could be the hero of a story?

When Commander Sparks arrives with a note that asks Kati to give him a good home, he seems like a normal little dog. He thinks he can talk, he’s annoying and he thinks he’s in charge, but that’s just normal dog stuff. What isn’t normal is the way he can make the doggie door go to The Other Place, and some of the injured creatures he brings back through the door are downright strange.

Nothing could be stranger than the fuzzy little creature named Winston. Winston actually can talk. He talks way too much, to be honest, and he thinks that he is far smarter, braver, and fiercer than he really is, but he is kind of nice, in an annoying way. He tells Katie all about how the monstrous Kahutahuta is rampaging about The Other Place, biting off ears and doing all kinds of other horribly rampageous things.

There isn’t much that a little girl can do about a monster rampaging across a world beyond the doggy door, so Katie decides to just care for the hurt little animals from The Other Place as best she can. But then something dreadful happens and Katie must be braver, and more heroic than she ever could have imagined.

Key Story Qualities

Evoking many of the same quirky humorous qualities as Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a narrator reminiscent of A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, The Kahutahuta is all about a young girl who must choose to be brave, strives to be kind, and puzzles-out clever solutions to the challenges that confront her.

What may not be immediately noticed is that violence is never the answer for Katie.

Violence creates problems. After all the Kahutahuta is a monster, and its rampage is injuring little creatures left and right, and Katie is convinced that the stakes are life and death. She is certain that the Kahutahuta will eat the Monkey Monsters if she does not find them and bring them home, but violence never solves any of the problems. Katie succeeds when she responds to challenges with intelligence and compassion.

Katie’s family situation is flawed but loving and through this, the story emphasises both the idea that imperfect is normal, and the idea that any child can be a hero. Katie is just a normal little girl, living in a normal family and she becomes a hero not by being big, strong and fearless, but by choosing to be brave even when she would rather not.

Things do not always go Katie’s way. Some clever things don’t work and some solutions create new problems, and in this way her perseverance and determination come to the fore. Undaunted by these failures, she treats them as learning experiences, accepting them as part of the process of tackling a big challenge by just giving it a go and trying to take steps in the right direction.

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