A beautiful new picture book “Elwyn’s Dream” was launched to the public at Pukaha Mt Bruce Wildlife Reserve on 6 June,2008 by Mitre 10 and Random House. This book was the publication of the winning story from Mitre 10’s Takahe Rescue short story competition in 2006.

Elwyn’s Dream tells the story of local hero and early conservationist Elwyn Welch and how he used his bantam hens to raise Takahe chicks in the 1950s. Elwyn was a pioneer in species conservation and this charming, gently humorous story presents his story to a new generation. Elwyn’s legacy also includes his Wairarapa farm which became the foundation of the Pukaha/Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre.

The winning story was written by Ali Foster who lives outside of Masterton as does the illustrator, Viv Walker, and both are long familiar with the Welch family and their history in the Wairarapa region. Winning the competition and getting published was a dream come true for Ali who said she “never envisaged it would turn out like it did. It was a story that needed to be told and I am surprised that no-one had ever told it before”

The publication of the book has been a result of collaboration between the NZ National Parks and Conservation Foundation, Mitre 10 and Random House New Zealand. Random House helped judge the short story competition, which was only open to unpublished authors, and were amazed by the quality of the entries.

The launch of the book was especially memorable because of the input from Elwyn’s wife Shirley Welch who spoke beautifully of her late husband and his efforts to save takahe. With the publication of this book we hope that a new generation of children will be inspired to play a part in the conservation of our native species, and the legacy of Elwyn Welch will live on.

The book is available to buy from selected Mitre 10 stores and good booksellers everywhere.