Agapanthus Hum and the Eyeglasses Hardback - 1999

From the publisher

Meet Joy Cowley ... To meet Joy Cowley is to meet Mrs. Wishy-Washy. Children from around the world whose first book was the story about the animal-scrubbing Mrs. Wishy-Washy have taken both to their hearts. Over 40 million copies of the first reader are now in print. In Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm, the spicy and much loved characters take on their first full adventure in a picture book, expanding their readership in bookstores and classrooms everywhere. A New Zealander by birth, Cowley began writing for children to help her son Edward, who, like her, came to reading slowly. Using playful and witty text, she not only led children to read in these early stories, she delighted them. This became her mark. She has written more than 600 exuberant titles since, including board books, early readers, chapter books, and novels, and is considered one of the world's foremost experts on reading. Traveling the world over, meeting children and teachers, and actually creating reading programs for emerging states, such as South Africa, she is the recipient of many prestigious awards. Philomel was the first trade publisher to bring Mrs. Wishy-Washy to the bookstores with the publication of the Mrs. Wishy-Washy board book. Three additional board books will follow during the next year. Her three Agapanthus Hum easy-reader books, the first of which was named a Best Book of 1999 by Publishers Weekly, have introduced her readers to a brand-new character, one as spirited and as invincible as Mrs. Wishy-Washy. An extraordinary novel, Hunter, to be published in the summer of next year, will capture the parallel lives of a Maori hunter and a contemporary girl when the plane in which the latter is riding crashes inthe New Zealand jungle. We are proud to make Joy Cowley an important part of the Philomel list: past, present, and future.