Clare Erasmus posed for a photo with children waist drum performers during a book launch event of her new book "Kia Kaha Celebrates Chinese New Year" held on Aug. 6, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Xinhua/Li Huizi)
Clare Erasmus, who has been passionate about Chinese culture from an early age, recently launched her new book "Kia Kaha Celebrates Chinese New Year" in Christchurch, New Zealand. She hopes to get her book translated into Chinese and published in China one day.
by Li Huizi
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Clare Erasmus, an author of children's books, said there must be the Chinese culture in her DNA. Erasmus has been passionate about the Chinese culture since she was a very young girl and living in South Africa where she spent much time with a Chinese family friend.
Tuesday's launch of her new book "Kia Kaha Celebrates Chinese New Year", demonstrates her passion toward the culture that is deeply rooted in her soul.
With a teaching career spanning over 20 years, the teacher-author presented her fourth book in the Kia Kaha series for children.
Clare Erasmus (second from left) and Vanessa Ide (the illustrator) posed for a photo with a young reader during a book launch event of her new book "Kia Kaha Celebrates Chinese New Year" held on Aug. 6, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Xinhua/Li Huizi)
KIA KAHA STORIES
Kia Kaha, the name of a little mouse, is a Maori phrase meaning "stay strong". This term was widely used post-earthquake and then again earlier this year after the terrorist attacks.
In this book, the little mouse travels to China to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Kia Kaha experiences the colors, food, sights and sounds of this exciting time, celebrating with a good friend and making new friends along the way.
Red envelops, dragon dancing, street markets, firecrackers, and lanterns are some of the Chinese cultural elements that are displayed in the story, with vivid illustrations by Vanessa Ide. Vanessa has illustrated all four books in the series. Erasmus enjoys working with Vanessa. After four years, they have developed a great friendship.
Erasmus said she could vividly recall all the details of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Taipei, China's Taiwan where she had been teaching at an independent school for three years. In her latest release, she draws some Chinese words in the Pinyin form, to enhance the sense of the Chinese Culture.
In the story, the flight carrier which takes Kia Kaha the mouse to Guangzhou is China Southern Airlines, which opened the first direct flight between Christchurch and China in 2015.
"I decided to include China Southern Airlines because that's an authentic carrier people use to travel between Christchurch and China. It's a great airline," she said.
"Kia Kaha, the Cathedral Mouse, was fast asleep in his sacred house. His travel bags were packed and ready, and neatly tucked in was his teddy," the book begins.
Erasmus said the poetic language style will attract young readers and make them feel joyful about the Chinese New Year celebrations.
"For me, the story is about relationship, about getting to know other people from all over the world. There's something so vibrant in every culture, and we should spend time getting to know and understand people from all over the world. This includes getting to learn about their celebrations and festivities," she told Xinhua.
"Kia Kaha" was first used as the little mouse's name in Erasmus' first book in the series, "Kia Kaha, the Cathedral Mouse". It was published after the Christchurch 2011 earthquake when "Kia Kaha" was widely used in New Zealand to show strength and resilience during the hardships and post-quake reconstruction.
The deadly earthquake killed 185 people in Christchurch and the city center was severely damaged and closed off. She chose the Cathedral because it was Christchurch's landmark and was damaged by the quake.
The Cathedral was the center of the city and different people from all over the world would go through the Cathedral to admire the beautiful architecture. The little mouse who lived in the Cathedral met people from all over the world. From each person he met, he learned some good things, according to Erasmus.
"I was quite worried about children's reactions to the earthquakes, and how they would deal with the devastation. I knew that parents would also be worried and that would be double devastation," Erasmus said.
"I wanted the children to understand that while there was much damage and visible destruction, they needed to stay strong, to dig deep for perseverance, and to help one another."
"The first book was written for children to understand that even in those challenging and tough times there was a lot of good taking place. Neighbors came to help each other in the earthquake crisis," she said.
The second book in the series, "Kia Kaha's Brand New House", was about the reconstruction of the city and how a new chapter of the lives emerged. The third book, "Kia Kaha's Christmas Cheer", is a story about helping others and showing gratitude for what people have.
New Zealanders and Chinese people attend a book launch event of Clare Erasmus's new book "Kia Kaha Celebrates Chinese New Year" held on Aug. 6, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Xinhua/Wendy Zhang)
PASSION FOR CHINESE CULTURE
"Kia Kaha Celebrates Chinese New Year" is a display of Erasmus' passion for China and the Chinese culture.
Erasmus said her family friend was married to "a lovely Chinese lady" and they always had Chinese New Year celebrations together when she grew up in South Africa. Later, she was offered a teaching position in Taipei, China's Taiwan and moved there with her husband.
After three years of living there, Erasmus moved to further study in Australia and then relocated to New Zealand with her family. She enjoys making dumplings with her students, especially when there is a Chinese celebration.
"Having travelled widely in Asia, coupled with the time in Taipei, China's Taiwan, experiencing the Chinese culture, I felt compelled to share this wonderful story of the Chinese New Year. I feel so Chinese in my heart," she said.
She said she hopes to get her book translated into Chinese and published in China one day.
