News Release
August 29, 2005 Two unpretentious little girls are walking hand-in-hand into the hearts of millions of Chinese children. The girls–one fair, one dark–are the title characters of Gill Pittar's Milly, Molly character education book series, which was launched into the People's Republic of China in mid August, 2005.
With a captive audience of 360 million children, this development foreshadows huge potential for the Milly, Molly stories. Publishers Beijing Normal University Press (BNUP) has printed about a million Milly, Molly books, comprising 20,000 bilingual editions of 48 titles. Another 320,000 books of 16 more titles are still to be printed. The books are sold in sets of eight, each containing six titles.
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| Pictured at the launch in Beijing are (L-R): Mr. Giyou, Vice President of Beijing Normal University Press; Mr. Ma Jiabin, Official from Education Ministry of China, Basical Education Division; Mr. Jin Bo, a famous writer for children; Mr. Patrick English, New Zealand Trade Commissioner, Beijing; Gill Pittar; Kate Pittar and a Translator. |
The author, and Sales and Marketing Director Kate Pittar, took an active part in the separate Beijing, Shenzen and Shanghai launches, which were attended by New Zealand's Trade Commissioner to China, Patrick English, as well as some two hundred educationalists and parents. The author gave a lecture on character education and children's books. Kate Pittar spoke about the books' rapid expansion into 106 countries and 25 languages.
China's national television corporation, and more than 10 national newspapers provided coverage of the events. Within 10 days of the launch, Milly, Molly books were being sold from bookstores in virtually every major city of China. Beijing University Normal Press supplies half the textbooks used in China's primary schools, and is part of China's Ministry of Education Book Review Commission–the body responsible for introducing books into primary and pre-school classes.
The Milly, Molly series was first launched in 2001 at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The 78 books written to date have the central message "We may look different but we feel the same". The books promote the acceptance of diversity, as they follow a group of young multicultural friends through a variety of adventures and experiences. Written for children aged three to eight years, the simple stories are illustrated by Gisborne artist Cris Morrell. Each book has a message, with themes such as honesty, responsibility, and acceptance of difference–plus broader values like punctuality, coping with grief, care and consideration.
Gill Pittar's objective in writing the books was to help find a peaceful solution to the problems of the world through the education of children. "My aim is to help give children the life skills required to build character and self-esteem, so they can confidently meet the challenges of the 21 st century. I want to get the message across that while we may look different, we feel the same emotions. Pain, heartbreak, loss of identity, self-esteem and sound values transcend race, colour and creed."
Current distributors include BNUP, Scholastic Australia, Scholastic New Zealand, Heinemann (South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Ireland) and Editorial Everest (Spanish and Portuguese editions). Negotiations are underway to produce an international television series.
Character Education and Children's Books - An author's perspective from Gill Pittar, Author of the Milly, Molly Books (delivered to the official launch of Milly, Molly Books by Beijing Normal University Press in 5 major cities in PR China - August 2005. PDF, 108Kb)
Post-launch note from Mr. Yang Binghui (BNUP):"More than 20 media outlets reported the launch of the Milly, Molly books in China. These included two TV stations (the Shenzhen TV station and the Educational TV stations of China, which broadcast all over China). More than 10 national newspapers, including the Chinese Youth Daily, the Chinese Educational Daily, have reported the event.
More than 40 major Chinese web sites now have the information about Milly, Molly books and events."
Gisborne Herald news article, September 2, 2005 (PDF 1.14 MB).