Researching a new audience
massey-university
Mon Apr 20 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Researching a new audience
Monday, 20 April 2009, 9:50 am
Press Release: Massey University
Monday, April 20, 2009
Researching a new audience
It is not the most renowned genre for academic research into military history but The Donkey Man, a children’s book written by military historian Professor Glyn Harper is reaching a vast new audience.
Professor Harper says he wanted to prove his research was not just aimed at the academic community.
“I wanted to reach a wider audience,” he says. “These children’s books are now held in most schools in the country, they’re giving young people an introduction to New Zealand’s military heritage, and I’m helping to show that academia isn’t divorced from everyday society.”
While his stories are written in a manner primary-aged children can understand, they are historically correct and The Donkey Man is based upon a real soldier.
Richard Alexander Henderson, from Grey Lynn in Auckland, joined the medical Corps in 1914, and was part of a group that used donkeys to carry sick soldiers at Gallipoli.
The book tells his story, but from the point of view of a donkey. “Children relate strongly to animals, so I thought that narrative device would work well in this genre,” Professor Harper says.
The ploy seems to have worked, with publisher Puffin informing the author this month that another 1500 copies of the book have been ordered.
Professor Harper also worked closely with the book’s illustrator, Bruce Potter, to ensure the pictures were accurate.
“The landscapes, uniforms, vehicles and machinery all need to be correct,” he says. “Now, publishers have used me to oversee any books they may be working on with a military connection, to make sure they’re also accurate.”
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Professor Harper wrote his first children’s book, Mission to East Timor, seven years ago. As the official Defence Force historian for New Zealand’s involvement in East Timor, Professor Harper chronicled the nation’s involvement there, and his publisher suggested a book aimed at a younger audience.
He has now published six children’s books, with a seventh being released early next year, and The Donkey Man has just been reprinted for the third time.
Professor Harper’s seventh children’s book Le Quesnoy – The Town New Zealand Saved will be published early next year.
Anzac Day 2009:
Professor Glyn Harper will feature prominently in Maori Television’s Anzac Day coverage this week.
As well as being historical adviser for the broadcast, Professor Harper will be involved in a panel discussion on the role of the New Zealand Defence Force as a nation-builder.
He will also be interviewed for a piece on his recent book Images of War, which chronicles the photographic history of New Zealand soldiers in World War One.
ENDS
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