Children’s picture book Quaky Cat, published in response to the Canterbury earthquakes, has now raised $150,000 for Christchurch charities.
Born of tragedy — the September 2010 earthquake in Christchurch — Quaky Cat is the uplifting story of Tiger the cat's experiences as he wanders frightened and lost through the quake's destruction, and finally gets reunited with his family. Wanting to help the people of Christchurch, author Diana Noonan and illustrator Gavin Bishop donated their services to create the book, and publisher Scholastic New Zealand has, since the book's December 2010 publication, donated 50% of the book’s proceeds to Christchurch charities.
Proceeds from sales of Quaky Cat, including all of Noonan and Bishop’s royalties, are being donated to the Christchurch Women’s Refuge and Te Tai Tamariki Children’s Literature Trust, with Scholastic’s contribution going to the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Appeal. At the time of publication, 15,000 copies of the book were gifted by Scholastic to year 1 and 2 children in the Christchurch region.
Minister for Earthquake Recovery Gerry Brownlie presented Scholastic with the Northwest Christchurch Earthquake Award, in recognition of service to the local community in the aftermath of the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Scholastic is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books and a leader in educational technology, creating quality products and services that educate, entertain and motivate children that are distributed through a variety of channels including retail stores, school book clubs, book fairs and libraries.