When I was contacted recently by Greet Pauwelijn introducing me to her new local publishing company, Book Island, I was very excited. Apart from the fact that her company has a FANTASTIC name, I was excited because she told me that they will be publishing the very best Dutch children’s books in English. I absolutely love the first three books that they will be publishing and you will love sharing them with the children in your life. You can read more about Book Island’s first books and Greet’s journey to realising her dream below.
Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich, Sir Mouse to the Rescue and Bernie and Flora are three stunning picture books soon to be released by Book Island, an up-and-coming children’s book publisher located in the Kapiti Coast.
Owner and publisher Greet Pauwelijn’s goal is not only to publish outstanding children’s books in English and Dutch, but also to add an extra dimension to the stories by organising activities inspired by them – enabling children’s enjoyment of each book to extend far beyond its pages.
In Book Island’s first title, Sammy and the Skyscraper Sandwich, a small boy builds the biggest sandwich in the world. Following in his footsteps, we invite you to come and help us build our own gigantic sandwich at the book’s launch on 11 November using recyclable materials – bring your own recyclables and see how high we can get! There will also be exciting activities based on Sir Mouse to the Rescue, which chronicles the adventures of Mouse, a stubborn knight and her long-suffering friend Dragon, and Bernie and Flora, a heart-warming tale of friendship and flowers.
The publication of these three titles will fittingly mark the three-year anniversary of Greet and her family’s move to New Zealand – a country, she says, that has been incredibly supportive of her endeavour to become a children’s publisher.
The inspiration for this career move came as Greet was translating New Zealand author Barbara Else’s The Travelling Restaurant (Gecko Press, 2011) for a Belgian publishing house. “While translating this book – my first from English to Dutch – I suddenly realised that, instead of telling other publishers about possible bestsellers, I might as well translate and publish these books myself.”
Publishers, editors and translators were all fortuitously present in Greet’s social circle – “Even our accountant had been working in publishing for years!” she laughs. “I also met a publishing consultant while waiting at the traffic lights in Wellington, and my son’s friend’s parents turned out to be well-known book designers here…”
Greet says it felt “like lucky stars were falling from the sky”, and knew that she’d made the right move. She welcomes you and your family to join her on 11 November to celebrate both the release of these books and the beginning of a new chapter in the Book Island journey.
Will Hill – Department 19 and Department 19: The Rising
My Best Friends Are Books 