Media

"A Nursery Rhyme Book for the 21st Century," Dominion Post / "For tomorrow's global travellers" Australian Woolworths' Parents Magazine

My Village has also been chosen as one of the 250 outstanding new international books for children and young adults that have been selected for the influential The White Ravens 2009 catalogue from the thousands of books that Munich's International Youth Library received as review copies from publishers, authors, illustrators, and organisations from all over the world within the last year. The 250 chosen books were presented at the library's stand at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, the world's leading children's book publishing fair. 

We're also thrilled to have been chosen to be on the NSW (Aus) Premier's Reading Challenge 2009 booklist for 3-4 year olds. This year Frances Lincoln are publishing My Village in the UK and the USA. 

See below for a few clippings on our book - My Village, Rhymes from Around the World:

Australian Woolworths' Parents Magazine, October/November 2008 (Number 2 "Fave Pick"):
For tomorrow's global travellers, 22 favourite nursery rhymes from around the world including Iceland, New Zealand and Japan. Each catchy rhyme is printed in its original language alongside English. 

John McIntyre from The Children's Bookshop (see links) on Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan, 4th July 2008
"All [the poems] are charming. It's no easy thing to do, to translate rhyme to make them accessible to an English audience, there has to be some license but this works: the poems are delightful...The illustrations are beautiful, they are absolutely stunning. Mique Moriuchi combines collage and colour to produce these friendly, child-like illustrations.. .(and) Michael Rosen, probably the most famous children's poet in the world has done the introduction. It really is a wonderful collection of poetry."

Caitlin Davies, Daily Chronicle, 7th July 2008: "This is a good book to read and read aloud - recommended!" 

Amy Houlihan, "Hot News" section of Kia Ora, Air New Zealand's in-flight magazine, August 2008: 
"Delight in the quirky, touching and funny verses brought to life by the artwork from exciting young illustrator Mique Moriuchi."

Frances Atkinson, The Age Newspaper, M Magazine, Melbourne. Saturday 20 July:
"Humpty Dumpty might be all the rage in many Western households, but in Denmark, Snowman Frost is . . . Danielle Wright has gathered nursery rhymes from 22 countries, including Brazil, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan and Iran. You can read the ditty in English, but it's also 

printed in the original language. Mique Moriuchi's collages are beautiful: bright, detailed and joyful. As Michael Rosen says in the introduction, rhymes 'can become our companions for life'."

Blawgat.blogspot.com (from Ireland)
"Every home, school and library should have a copy . . . I'll be keeping a copy to read to my grandkids - whenever that may be." 

Kathryn Ryan, Nine to Noon, 4th July 2008:
"I love the little patchwork-style illustrations."

Ann Packer, Indulgence, Dominion Post, 6 September 2008
"A delightfully colourful collection by Aucklander Danielle Wright of rhymes from around the world. My Village brings together translations of multi-cultural gems with their original text - and, in the case of some countries, their own alphabet too - plus joyous illustrations by Mique Moriuchi (Granny Torelli Makes Soup). In a gem of an introduction, Michael Rosen pins down nursery rhymes - 'small-scale rhymes' - as 'tiny short stories, full of random acts of violence, loss, greed and mishap full of verbal fun and adsurdity'. A nursery rhyme book for the 21st century."  

Graham Beattie, Beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com, 8th July 2008
"What a treasure. A collection of touching and funny verses . . . A valuable resource for early childhood educators providing an introduction to the look and sound of other languages as well as art, poetry and geography curricular." 

Tessa Duder, Australian Women's Weekly, August 2008
Nursery verses from 22 countries in their original language and English, collected by Auckander Danielle Wright and superbly illustrated by a rising British artist. 

Tots to Teens, August, 2008
A wonderful look at nursery verses from around the world for young children. Beautifully illustrated, each page offers young readers a glimpse of 22 different cultures.

From Plains FM interview, July 25 2008:
Victoria Wynne-Thomas (interviewer): "In our increasingly multicultural society in New Zealand, it's good to introduce children of New Zealand to different cultures and then also for those immigrants that are coming to have a book where there might be a rhyme from their own culture."
Dani Wright: "When I started looking for the rhymes (for My Village), I found so many beautiful rhymes - funny ones, poignant ones, sweet ones - I just thought they were all so gorgeous . . . I wanted a way to introduce different cultures to children right from the nursery."

For full interview click here  

Julia Marshall, Beyond The Chalkface, July 2008
"One of the reasons I published this collection of rhymes is because when I visit schools with a suitcase of picture books that come from lots of different countries - from Iran and France and Sweden and Holland and Taiwan and all over the place - I can see that children love to see what other languages look like on the page and how they sound. I did too, when I was little. My sister and I both remember a book in French with pictures of la table."

Storytime Books, June 2008
"This is a wonderful selection from different cultures . . . Another terrific Gecko production which begs to be read out loud. I hope many parents and other adults will attempt to read the rhymes in their original language as well. It's also a lovely warm book to look at."

Stephen Clark, Tomorrow's Schools Today online, July 2008:
"My Village is a unique and delightful collection of nursery rhymes from around the world . . . sometimes the rhymes are touching, sometimes they are funny, while others are just quirky, but all are great to read aloud to children. This is a very useful resource for Early Childhood Education Centres to give children an introduction to the look and sound of other languages." 

Nursery Education:
The verses introduce young children to different cultures as well as helping those from other countries feel included. The book cleverly presents the translated rhyme opposite the verse in its original language.

Nursery World:
A funny, quirky and touching collection of nursey rhymes from 22 different countries...Young children will love Moriuchi's appealing illustrations and the fun opportunities to play with sound and language that this collection offers.

Carousel:
Stunningly illustrated by Mique Moriuchi, Danielle Wright's collection contains nursery rhymes from a wealth of countries, accessibly translated. There are action rhymes, lullabies and observations of children's everyday life. A version in the original language and, where appropriate, in original script, are placed alongside each poem giving this fascinating and colourful book long lasting appeal.

Around the Bookshops, August 2008:

"In the United Nations' International Year of Language, from around the world - Tonga, China, New Zealand, Norway, India, Zimbabwe (22 countries altogether) - comes this really charming collection of nursery rhymes presented both in English and their original language. Like all books from Gecko Press, this one has been carefully crafted and is a pleasure to handle. I was lucky enough to be at the Wellington launch of My Village at Storylines 2008 where a group of children from many of the cultures represented read the poems in their own language." 

The Children's Bookshop, Winter Newsletter 2008:
From Iran to Iceland, Samoa to Holland, readers can delight in this collection of quirky, touching and funny verses from 22 countries brought to life by the artwork of British illustrator, Mique Moriuchi. The rhymes include the original languages, along with an English translation, and examples are Rain (Regn) from Norway, Beautiful Bird (Shiri Yakanaka) from Zimbabwe and Big Whale (Tohora Nui) from New Zealand. With an introduction from Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, this absolutely stunning collection from award-winning Wellington publisher Gecko Press, is an ideal companion to traditional Mother Goose titles. For age 2 plus, and all adults, it is sure to bring a smile to everyone's face. 

Outside In Organisation: Christmas Wishlist Book #2
Compiler Danielle Wright together with a team of translators has brought together a wonderful array of rhymes from different parts of the world ... A delightful collection.

We Heart Books blog
Before we even had a chance to promote it, this book sold out! A lovely introduction to poetry - the short rhymes and colourful illustrations will hold even a small child's attention . . . As in all good picture books, Moriuchi's illustrations compliment and build on the text, and help to bring further meaning to the rhyme with the inclusion of culturally appropriate details. 

Paper Tigers blog "My Village brings together, in a beautiful multilingual volume, an array of nursery rhymes that introduces children to the languages and cultures of 22 countries. In addition, My Village perfectly communicates the potential rhymes have of becoming "companions for life"-something alluded to by Children's Poet Laureate Michael Rosen in his beautiful introduction to the book."

The Bookseller (UK): A wonderful collection of rhymes and verse from 22 countries across the globe. This is a volume that introduces and celebrates the rich diversity of ethnology and folklore, delivering it to a young audience with playful enthusiasm. For ages 0 to 5 years.