This line’s from an introductory peek-a-boo book, Here is Hare, written for tiny tots by Queenstown children’s author/illustrator Laura Shallcrass that’s being published tomorrow.
Shallcrass, who’s enjoyed success with a trilogy of books for 3-to-8-year-olds, says friends asked her to produce a book for first-time readers from even six months old up to 3-to-4-year-olds.
The result, she says, is "a really simple search-and-find page-turner that introduces a bit of the themes of my other books".
"It’s got lots of the same characters — I just chose some of my favourites."
In addition to Hare there’s Eel, Frog, Snail, Kunekune (pig) and Ruru (owl).
The pages are very thick — "you’re not going to destroy it" — and the cover’s tactile.
Shallcrass, who calls herself a fulltime illustrator — "I’d love to get to the level where I can just create books for a living" — says her illustrations are done digitally.
"I’ll sketch first on paper and then I will scan that in and they’re finished on an iPad with the Adobe programme."
Her first book, in 2020, was the award-winning Hare & Ruru, followed by What Colour is the Sky? and Hare and Kunekune’s Midnight Mission.
She deliberately chose a hare rather than a rabbit as one of her leading characters, she says.
"I live in Gibbston, so rabbits are a no-go zone on our property.
"We’ve got a whippet who’s pretty efficient in getting their numbers down so that’s why I chose a hare."
The book’s published by Beatnik Publishing with a recommended retail price of $22.95.
