An afternoon full of fossil fun was held at the South Canterbury Museum at the weekend.
On Sunday, Christchurch-based author Mary Duff held a special South Canterbury launch of her recently published children’s book that looks at fossil finds in North Otago.
Alongside the launch, children had the chance to take part in other fun fossil-related activities like getting to take a selfie with a replica of New Zealand’s largest ammonite fossil, learning about geological time with a special rope and finding fossil-bearing rocks hidden around the museum.
Ms Duff said the book, called A Discovery in the Rocks, was based on a true story about the discovery of an ancient whale fossil in North Otago by the late Prof Ewan Fordyce, as well as basic fossil formation and the origins of the Waitaki Whitestone Unesco Global Geopark.
‘‘I grew up inland from Duntroon, surrounded by the limestone cliffs in that area.
‘‘When I left home, travelled and got to learn more about the world and geology, I was like, oh my gosh, this is such a unique area.
‘‘Then I had children and I thought, how are these children going to understand that these rocks that are always in the way, that are slippery, can’t grow grass seeds or have animals on them have so many hidden treasures hiding inside them,’’ she said.
‘‘So I set forth and wrote just a little DIY version for my nephews.’’
The idea for a properly published book came while working in a job that sold software for a bookstore company, she said.
‘‘I was connecting with lots of different bookstores, including the one in Duntroon, who were looking for a software to make it easier to purchase books and list them online.
‘‘They had said it was quite hard to find books on that topic and then I mentioned that I had made this DIY version.
‘‘They said ‘oh, you should finish it because Ewan is retiring soon and it would be great to have that story completed so we can have it in the shop’,’’ she said.
‘‘Four years later from then I finally finished it and published it in October last year.’’
A Discovery in the Rocks was the first book Ms Duff had published and included illustrations created by Duntroon Primary School pupils.
While the book was aimed at primary school aged children, there was definitely something for everyone, Ms Duff said.
‘‘I find adults often come away saying things like ‘wow, I didn’t know all mammals, including dolphins, had hair’.
‘‘I think the art makes it really accessible for children when they can see that, oh, someone my age has done those pictures, I could draw that picture like that.
‘‘I had a lot of guidance from Otago University staff on how to get the book to be really accessible,’’ she said.
‘‘Hopefully as the kids age, they’ll be able to get more out of it each time they look at it and see things in a different way.’’
It was exciting to have been able to hold a South Canterbury launch for the book, she said.
‘‘I visited the museum back in January and I just mentioned the book and asked if they’d like to stock it.
‘‘They saw it and said ‘yes, please’ and asked if we could do a launch as well as I’d also done launches in Canterbury and at the Otago Museum.
‘‘It’s really special [to see the interest in her work], it’s self-published and you get a lot of no’s, you get used to getting no’s, so you stop asking.
‘‘It was cool to see the museum utilising the space they have and using the contents of their archives to go with the launch.’’
A Discovery in the Rocks is available at the South Canterbury Museum or online from maryduff.co.nz
