Tikumu’s letter

Press, 31 May 1977, Page 18

Tikumu’s letter

Dear Children, Recently, I attended a course in Dunedin about children’s books. There I heard a most stirring speech by Mrs Elsie Locke, of Christchurch, and I want to tell you something about it. Mrs Locke had returned from a Pacific Rim Conference in Canada and had met many people from other countries who care about children’s books. One famous writer from

South America — a writer whose books are unknown in New Zealand — told Mrs Locke that most children in her part of the world never see books. If a book were handed to

one of them, he or she would have no idea what to do with it. The child could not read, would be too poor to go to school, and there would be no books in the home. Mrs Locke told us, sad though it is, that most children in undeveloped parts of the world cannot enjoy books. And even sadder is their need for food. They are hungry', thin, and weak. I hope that we work hard to help these children. If New Zealand bought more story books from countries in South America, Asia, and Africa, and stocked them in our libraries, we would understand their problems better. Mrs Locke said that their writers are talented and that New Zealand children would like their work; it is exciting.

It is true that we have history and geography books which give us useful information about foreign places, but apart from fairy and folk tales, we do not have stories from South America. And we have only a small number from Africa and some areas of Asia.

Yet a story tells us about the feelings of people — their dreams, their hopes, and their struggles. As we read, we share in their experiences. And after we have closed the book, our friendly feelings may still continue. Tikumu