1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:11,453 Speaker 1: from News Talks. 3 00:00:11,453 --> 00:00:15,253 Speaker 2: At b in the mangle Munching forest, there's a nickel 4 00:00:15,333 --> 00:00:18,613 Speaker 2: nackle tree growing nickel nackleberries that are read as red 5 00:00:18,653 --> 00:00:21,533 Speaker 2: can be. I'll be very careful so as not to 6 00:00:21,573 --> 00:00:23,733 Speaker 2: give up the end. But would you believe it's been 7 00:00:23,773 --> 00:00:29,053 Speaker 2: fifty years since first those words were penned? That first 8 00:00:29,093 --> 00:00:32,373 Speaker 2: sentence I read you is from Linley Dodd's Nickel Nackletree. 9 00:00:32,813 --> 00:00:35,453 Speaker 2: So it's a kid's counting book that I reckon. It's 10 00:00:35,493 --> 00:00:37,573 Speaker 2: kind of like a it's like a bit of a 11 00:00:37,613 --> 00:00:42,173 Speaker 2: Doctor Zusian take on New Zealand birds, right, So it's 12 00:00:42,213 --> 00:00:44,933 Speaker 2: a counting book, all these different birds sitting in a tree. 13 00:00:45,013 --> 00:00:47,973 Speaker 2: In the end they all fall out, and the birds 14 00:00:48,133 --> 00:00:51,293 Speaker 2: are illustrated to look very much like some rather familiar 15 00:00:51,333 --> 00:00:53,573 Speaker 2: New Zealand birds, but with a bit of a sort 16 00:00:53,573 --> 00:00:56,253 Speaker 2: of Doctor Zusian twist. Anyway, The nickel Nackle Tree was 17 00:00:56,293 --> 00:01:00,733 Speaker 2: first published in nineteen seventy six, So what's that five 18 00:01:00,853 --> 00:01:06,133 Speaker 2: decades ago? Next year? Truthfully, I don't think I've opened 19 00:01:06,133 --> 00:01:09,373 Speaker 2: then nikel Nackletree since it was read to me as 20 00:01:09,373 --> 00:01:12,413 Speaker 2: a kid. But after our newborn son was gifted a copy. 21 00:01:12,413 --> 00:01:15,053 Speaker 2: It didn't take long to commit most of the nickel 22 00:01:15,093 --> 00:01:18,973 Speaker 2: nackletree to memory. My son can't crawl or speak, or 23 00:01:19,013 --> 00:01:21,933 Speaker 2: catch himself when he topples over, but he can put 24 00:01:21,973 --> 00:01:25,533 Speaker 2: out his fat little hand and turn the pages as 25 00:01:25,533 --> 00:01:32,133 Speaker 2: we read. Linley Dodd enjoys a bit of market dominance. 26 00:01:32,493 --> 00:01:35,773 Speaker 2: At our place. We've got heaps of kids books, but 27 00:01:36,453 --> 00:01:40,133 Speaker 2: there's just something about the language of her stories that 28 00:01:40,333 --> 00:01:45,093 Speaker 2: gives them, you know, that extra degree, like that extra edge. 29 00:01:45,853 --> 00:01:49,493 Speaker 2: Whether it's Slinky Malinky or Zachary Quack or a dragon 30 00:01:49,573 --> 00:01:52,933 Speaker 2: in a wagon. Her rhyming is technically flawless. The cadence 31 00:01:52,933 --> 00:01:57,013 Speaker 2: has this kind of this kind of perfect musical quality. 32 00:01:57,733 --> 00:02:00,333 Speaker 2: If you've ever written a poem and tried to perform 33 00:02:00,373 --> 00:02:04,573 Speaker 2: it aloud, you might appreciate it. But that flow is 34 00:02:04,693 --> 00:02:07,533 Speaker 2: much harder to achieve than at first you might think. 35 00:02:08,493 --> 00:02:14,733 Speaker 2: And Linley Dodd's books use such rich language jumbly raps, scallion, scadaddled, 36 00:02:15,333 --> 00:02:17,253 Speaker 2: and I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know this until 37 00:02:17,293 --> 00:02:19,813 Speaker 2: my son was born. But she illustrates her books herself, 38 00:02:19,853 --> 00:02:23,373 Speaker 2: and she does a beautiful job of all her work. 39 00:02:23,453 --> 00:02:27,533 Speaker 2: Of course, Harry McClary is top of the pops. It's 40 00:02:27,573 --> 00:02:31,733 Speaker 2: actually just amazing to me how those stories connect with 41 00:02:31,973 --> 00:02:35,573 Speaker 2: different children from different backgrounds. So when my friends in 42 00:02:35,613 --> 00:02:38,693 Speaker 2: New York had a kid five or six years ago, 43 00:02:39,333 --> 00:02:43,093 Speaker 2: I sent them the complete Harry McCleary, expecting that it 44 00:02:43,093 --> 00:02:46,333 Speaker 2: would be discarded soon enough for plastic monster trucks and 45 00:02:46,413 --> 00:02:52,333 Speaker 2: iPads and big city things. Truthfully, I thought Harry McClary 46 00:02:52,413 --> 00:02:56,453 Speaker 2: might be a bit quaint for them, or perhaps it 47 00:02:56,533 --> 00:02:59,653 Speaker 2: might be lost in translation. After all, America doesn't have dairies. 48 00:03:01,533 --> 00:03:03,053 Speaker 1: But my friends and. 49 00:03:03,013 --> 00:03:07,333 Speaker 2: Their son loved it, and I mean, like I really 50 00:03:07,933 --> 00:03:13,413 Speaker 2: loved it. Today. Their book has that wonderful, taped up, 51 00:03:13,773 --> 00:03:18,533 Speaker 2: slightly tatty quality of having been read hundreds and hundreds 52 00:03:18,573 --> 00:03:21,373 Speaker 2: of times. And that's the thing about children's books. Ah. 53 00:03:21,453 --> 00:03:23,933 Speaker 2: They are designed to be, first of all, read aloud, 54 00:03:24,813 --> 00:03:27,893 Speaker 2: but they're also designed to be reread and reread and 55 00:03:27,933 --> 00:03:31,453 Speaker 2: reread again. And it takes a special kind of genius 56 00:03:31,493 --> 00:03:35,253 Speaker 2: to write a rereadable book that is still fun for 57 00:03:35,333 --> 00:03:38,653 Speaker 2: its reader to say aloud, that doesn't drive its reader mad. 58 00:03:40,493 --> 00:03:45,253 Speaker 2: And then think about the impact that someone like Linley 59 00:03:45,293 --> 00:03:50,093 Speaker 2: Doughters had, like the Countless moments of joy that she sparked. 60 00:03:50,333 --> 00:03:53,733 Speaker 2: Is there anyone in New Zealand who couldn't finish this sentence? 61 00:03:54,173 --> 00:04:01,493 Speaker 2: Hercules moss as Berg As, of course not, I reckon. 62 00:04:02,453 --> 00:04:09,093 Speaker 2: Children's story books are an art form for which a 63 00:04:09,093 --> 00:04:13,333 Speaker 2: lot of people grossly underestimate just how talented you need 64 00:04:13,333 --> 00:04:16,893 Speaker 2: to be in order to absolutely nail it to write 65 00:04:17,013 --> 00:04:19,533 Speaker 2: a classic, You know what I mean. It's the sort 66 00:04:19,573 --> 00:04:22,853 Speaker 2: of thing that, ah, yeah, seems easy enough, but it's 67 00:04:22,893 --> 00:04:25,853 Speaker 2: just far more complex than most of us imagine. And 68 00:04:25,893 --> 00:04:31,453 Speaker 2: I say art form quite deliberately, because finding a blissful 69 00:04:31,533 --> 00:04:35,853 Speaker 2: blend of story, language, and images something that delights children 70 00:04:35,933 --> 00:04:40,493 Speaker 2: and adults really is an art form. And it's taken 71 00:04:40,573 --> 00:04:43,173 Speaker 2: becoming a parent for me to properly appreciate just how 72 00:04:43,213 --> 00:04:47,373 Speaker 2: talented the best of the best really are. If the 73 00:04:47,613 --> 00:04:51,173 Speaker 2: current reading habits in our household are anything to go by, 74 00:04:52,133 --> 00:04:55,893 Speaker 2: I would put Dame Linley Dodd right up there. Five 75 00:04:56,013 --> 00:05:00,373 Speaker 2: decades since she started publishing her books haven't lost any 76 00:05:00,453 --> 00:05:03,253 Speaker 2: of their magic. They delight my son today as much 77 00:05:03,253 --> 00:05:05,413 Speaker 2: as they delighted me when I was a kid. They 78 00:05:05,413 --> 00:05:09,693 Speaker 2: haven't lost a sin tilla of relevance or appeal. It's 79 00:05:09,733 --> 00:05:14,733 Speaker 2: funny Ah, how quality stands the test of time. 80 00:05:15,373 --> 00:05:18,453 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live 81 00:05:18,533 --> 00:05:21,373 Speaker 1: to News Talks at B from nine am Saturday, or 82 00:05:21,453 --> 00:05:23,293 Speaker 1: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.