Auckland AGM

2/7/2019

Our AGM at Freemans Bay Primary was very well attended and we're pleased to announce a new committee member has been added to the team. A very warm welcome to Liz Hamilton from Grey Lynn Primary School.
Your current committee is :
Corinne HInton - Kings College (covenor); Lorie Pushon - Marist College (secretary); Sharon Jackson - Albany Senior High School (NE rep), Pamela Lilley - Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate (treasurer), Elizabeth Atkinson - Avondale College; Trish Webster - Rangitoto College; Anne Rolinson - Aorere College; Dale Tifflin - Freeman's Bay School; Lisa Alcott - National Libary; Chris Taylor - Carmel College; Annie White - Dilworth School; Michele Coombridge - Pinehurst School and Liz Hamilton - Grey Lynn Primary.

Following the AGM. we were lucky have Jenny Nagle and Christine Dale founders of One Tree House Publishing, talk to us, bringing with them two of their authors.
Jenny outlined why the company was set up, about 15 months ago, the impetus being, overseas publishing companies withdrawing from the New Zealand market creating difficulties in publishing for New Zealand authors and titles.
The specific aims of the Company were to address the market for:

Yellow dot fiction
Education and Schools
Multicultural and language books – languages include: Te Reo, Mandarin, Hindi, Tongan

All books published will have Teacher Notes, and added extras e.g. maps, references to relevant website etc. Currently the Company is publishing 20 -25 titles per annum and they have no Sales Agents
Jenny then took us through some of the books they have published and, in some cases, republished.
Among those to be republished are books by Lani Wendt Young including the Telesa series and Tessa Duder’s Alex quartet. They are also publishing books by Pamela Allen, Brian Falkner, Tanya Batt, Anne Ingram, Sherryl Jordan, Mandy Hager, Tim Tipene – to name a few.
Jenny introduced us to the authors joining us - Tim Tipene and Tanya Batt.

Tim’s story:
Tim Tipene is the founder of Warriorkids.org, started after he had written his novel Warrior Kid. Tim grew up in a bi-racial home and his family environment was often violent and abusive. Tim’s first novel was written when he was 22yrs old, and he now has published more than 10 titles.
Tim spoke of how he started writing. He told us the back story to two his books “Mrs Battleship” and “Plums for Miss”. Both these stories portray teachers from his childhood who encouraged and helped him develop his passion for reading and writing. Tim regards the teachers behind these stories as “heroes”, women who changed his life for the better and inspired him.

Tania Batt:
Tania explained her inspiration and ideas behind her recent book : “The Time of your Life”
This is a beautifully illustrated picture book about Time. It is a thought-provoking book pondering - what time is? Who minds time? A book of mindfulness.
Tania then told the tale of her book, accompanied by her husband Michael playing the Ukulele.
It is a story full of wonder, beautifully told to a very appreciative audience.

The evening concluded with book purchases from the Dorothy Butler Children’s Bookshop
And informal chats to Tania and Tim.