Last week, every Federal Member of Parliament received a copy of our fantastic Wild Dog Books picture book, Vote 4 Me. Vote 4 Me explains the complex world of preferential voting in a fun, accessible way for children. Author Krys Saclier and illustrator and political cartoonist, Cathy Wilcox were on hand to sign books and chat to the politicians. Krys shares with us her reflections after the event.
“Releasing a book in the ‘Year We Do Not Speak Of’ meant no launches or parties or even raising a glass with a friend to celebrate. So I was thrilled to find out the National Capital Attractions Association (NCAA) and National Capital Educational Tourism Project (NCETP) had very generously purchased a copy of Vote 4 Me for every Federal Australian Parliamentarian.
On behalf of the Parliamentary Friends of the Capital Region, David Smith MP, Member for Bean, and Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, Senator for the ACT, invited all Members and Senators to a signing last Thursday. If that wasn’t enough, legendary Cathy Wilcox, would be there too. It still amazes me that she has illustrated Vote 4 Me – and she’s doing the next one!
I sat in a room, with hundreds of copies of Vote 4 Me, while the Political Cartoonist of the Year, personally signed them for Members and Senators. Cathy even drew individual cartoons in each book she signed. It was extraordinary to watch her. Quite a few Parliamentarians visited us to collect their books. I was delighted to see the lovely Ged Kearney, Member for Cooper, and journalist, James Jeffrey, both of whom, endorsed the book. The Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, popped in to let me know that she has bought lots of copies for schools in her electorate. Her election is mirrored in Vote 4 Me, and is a great real life example of preferential voting.
It’s brilliant to know that Vote 4 Me will be in every electorate in Australia as a reminder of how this whole voting thing works. A very big thank you to Garry and Natasha from NCETP and Mark from NCAA for making this happen. Sadly, Wild Dog publisher, Maryann Ballantyne co uldn’t be there due to COVID restrictions, but fingers crossed we can repeat this fortuitous event.”
Thank you Krys for sharing your thoughts about this amazing event, and thank you to the National Capital Attractions Association (NCAA) and National Capital Educational Tourism Project (NCETP) for making it happen. We are thrilled to see our picture book Vote 4 Me reaching such a wide audience.