Naughty bunny book a big seller

SALLY KIDSON - Stuff.Co.NZ. 3 December, 2011

PATRICK HAMILTON/FairfaxNZ

BIT OF A GIGGLE: Susi Blackmore and Peter Rigg of Page & Blackmore Booksellers read Poo Bum.

Poo Bum, a book featuring a cheeky little rabbit with a naughty turn of phrase, is a hit with adults and kids.The book is a hot seller in Nelson and this week was ranked No2 on the national Independent Book Sellers sales list.Tim Blackmore of Nelson bookstore Page & Blackmore Booksellers says he is selling two or three copies of Poo Bum a day.

The children's book, which features a rabbit named Simon who is loved by his family even though he answers questions with one rude phrase, was one of the top-selling New Zealand titles in his store at the moment. Mr Blackmore said it was a fantastic book to read aloud, and was loved by all ages.
"I don't think we are quite sure who it's being bought for."

Poo Bum which is written by Stephanie Blake, is a French book and has been translated into English for Wellington-based Gecko Press.Julia Marshall, the owner of Gecko Press, is the sister of Caroline Marshall, a co-owner of Nelson's Red Art Gallery.Julia Marshall said Gecko Press's ethos was finding and printing "curiously good books from around the world".
She travelled each year to the book fair in Frankfurt and the Bologna Children's Book Fair to find the "Margaret Mahy and Joy Cowleys of the rest of the world" which she then got translated and sold through her company. They only choose 14 books a year.
Ms Marshall said she had been aware of Poo Bum's existence for a while and had kept seeing the book and been unable to forget it.
She had spoken to a student from Whitireia Polytech who had lived in France who told her Poo Bum was a book she was made to read each day for a year by the children she was a nanny for.
"I said, `It's that blue and yellow book'. And we decided that we really had to have it."
She was delighted at how well the book was selling and said it had been in New Zealand stores for about a month.
"It's extraordinary. I've even been selling it to adults because they say their husbands are going to like it. A nine-year-old boy the other day just desperately wanted it."
She loved the book because Simon had been very well brought up, and was still naughty with "a little twinkle in his teeth".
"I think it's good sometimes when the main character in a book is not absolutely good." It was a book that was still enjoyable no matter how many times it was read.
Ms Marshall said fans would be pleased to know it is one of a series. "So there is more. Simon has a younger brother."

Caroline Marshall said the Red gallery was selling a copy of the book every day.

"It's fabulous because it appeals to all generations, and men and women, both dads and granddads."
- The Nelson Mail