A re-telling of Oscar Wilde timeless story about the golden statue of a prince and the little swallow that alights at its feet one evening on his way to Egypt.
Picture book for children. Includes a CD with the story told in a ten-minute song. Full page colour illustrations throughout. 32 pages.
 
 
 
“One of the joys of parenting for me was reading to the children. The Happy Prince is an absolute treat.” – Grandparent
 
“Delightful! My son begs to hear it every night.” – Parent
 
“The artwork, done mostly by the children, is stylized, bold and beautifully colourful. Rosie has re-written the story to song. The accompanying CD perfectly matches the text in the book. The rhythm and pace of the music enhances the mood and creates an extra dimension to the story. Enchanting. Highly recommended.” – Jabberwocky Children’s Bookshop Review
 
“Parents from around the world will want to share this very moving story with their children. I give it a 5 – star recommendation.” – Jules Riding, N.Z singer/ songwriter
 
Background story
In March 1998, the three oldest children were about to do the World Vision 20-hour famine for the first time. Josiah was eight, Katie seven and Eliza four. Rose, who home schools the children, decided to do a unit study about poverty, compassion and the work of World Vision. She had the idea of using the allegory of Oscar Wilde’s story The Happy Prince to illustrate the importance of learning to see the needs of others. Together, she and the children wrote the story into a ten-minute song, and then they spent two months painting the illustrations to go with it.Sometime later they were reading the World Vision magazine and saw an article about a young boy in Wellington who busked on the streets with his violin, and raised enough money each week to enable him to sponsor his own world Vision child.
Inspired, the children began to think about how they too could sponsor their own child. They began to dream about publishing their pictures and song in a book and C.D. to sell at their concerts. Two years later, this dream became a reality. The book has been published and the children have chosen a beautiful little girl called Hildah, from Zambia, as their sponsored child. They hope this will in turn encourage other people to think of ways that they too can make a difference.