Free coloring books for kids that celebrate the Wellington Botanic Gardens is this American broadcaster’s #HappinessIdea!
UPDATE: This #HappinessIdea campaign has been fully crowdsourced. Wellington, New Zealand Mayor Justin Lester donated printing for 250 coloring books. Artists Amanda Gregan and Z.R. Southcombe donated line art. Thanks to everyone who supported this happiness campaign and for being a part of #HappinessInAction.
Wellington, New Zealand — Pallas Hupé Cotter is an Emmy-award winning American broadcaster. In 2011, she gave up her TV career to move to Wellington, New Zealand with her husband and two sons. Pallas is passionate about gardens, in particular Botanic Gardens. She makes a point to visit them wherever she travels in the world. When we met Pallas and talked shop about the nature of happiness, Pallas got an idea: What if she could somehow share the beauty of her happy place? And what if sharing that beauty and that happiness took the form of free coloring books for children?
In 2016, we met Pallas through a LinkedIn connection. There was so much Patricia had in common with her: both she and Pallas are authors (Pallas is the author of Discovering Yourself in New Zealand). And they both have broadcasting backgrounds in America. Not to mention all of us—including both Pallas and the team here at The Happiness Idea—are committed to pursuing happiness for ourselves and enabling others to do the same. (Pallas is also the founder of Pop.)
Over coffee, Pallas and Patricia agreed to collaborate on a radio show which would provide a platform for people to talk about happiness. And because happiness is more a journey than a destination (pardon the cliché), they also committed to talking about the flip side of happiness. Depression, mental health, suicide. Celeb Chef Martin Bosley joined them in hosting the show, along with Access Radio producer and musician Tony William Kemp.
During the airing of one of those programs, Pallas talked about her childhood. She’d grown up in an idyllic American suburb with winding streets and a park that featured a little patch of woods. Exploring those winding streets by bicycle, Pallas developed a fondness for, as she put it, “tame wilderness.” Of particular fascination was her neighbor’s garden which was beautifully curated with exotica that was neatly signposted along crisscrossing paths.
Alas, a gardener Pallas was not. When she attempted to create something similar in her own backyard, she lost patience and instead collected rocks. “I wasn’t born with a talent for any kind of gardening,” Pallas said. “Except keeping cacti alive.” Later, when Pallas was a student at Oxford University, she once again sought out the local gardens. Pallas regarded it as a peaceful escape from the rigorous grind of academia. “I’d escape to restore my sanity in the Botanic Garden where I only had to be.”
Many years later, after moving to New Zealand with her family, Pallas visited the Wellington Botanic Garden. It was love at first sight. For Pallas, the gardens were once again her haven. They are “little oases of peace that ‘delight the senses,'” she said, in homage to the plaque on the Founder’s gate of the Wellington Botanic Garden. The ferns and tree vines so abundant in the Garden reminded Pallas of children’s fairy tales. It was this that would eventually spark her imagination to share her happiness with others by creating a coloring book. One thing led to another, and Pallas’s #HappinessIdea was born.
To make this happy happen, we’re crowdsourcing two artists as well as printing for 250 coloring books. The artists will create line art for a ten-page coloring book. The printer will provide printing for 250 copies of a black-and-white coloring book (featuring a color photo on the cover).
Pallas Hupé Cotter’s #HappinessIdea is to create free coloring books celebrating the Wellington Botanic Garden. Can you help provide art or printing?
To learn more about a young girl in Fiji with a #HappinessIdea to learn to read, visit here.
We’ve crowdsourced these items
print-run of 250 coloring books
The books will be A4, 20 pages, black and white.
Thank you Mayor Justin Lester
illustrator
Talented artist to create the line art for the coloring books.
Thank you Amanda Gregan
illustrator
Talented artist to create the line art for the coloring books.
Thank you Z.R. Southcombe