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Elvie the Sheep
Elvie the Sheep is a children's picture book, based on a true story of a sheep that lived in the Pollock's backyard in Kilbirnie Wellington.
 
Elvie lived next to the hens in the yard. She was taken for daily walks by Mrs Pollock and was a well known sight around the suburb.
 
This story introduces children to Elvie and her human family and describes her first adventure, when she nearly get taken to the works.
 
The illustrations have been done by artist Emma Lay from Takaka. Each drawing is a water colour and depicts Kilbirnie and the surrounding area beautifully. On the inside of each cover is a fly over of the suburb - children are able to 'find Elvie' and trace her movements to the park and home.
 
Elvie is full of personality and the Pollock family's movements are revealed as the story progresses.

Elvie the Sheep

$24.00Price

  • Read what Michele Hewitson had to say about Elvie the Sheep in The Listener here.

     

    "I knew my grandchildren would enjoy 'Elvie the Sheep' but was delighted with the level of enthusiasm in response to its initial reading, especially from 'little miss five-year-old'. She is a very experienced critic and has a vast library of her own, plus a much-loved library card, so demanding that 'Elvie' was read again, immediately after completing this first reading, was definitely a thumbs-up."

     

    "We got stuck on Elvie. Next... the questions started: 'Where was Elvie?' (Followed by much fun finding her on the map on the inside cover and tracing her journey to the park), 'Why did they have a pet sheep in the city?', 'Why does anyone have a pet sheep?', 'Why did they walk to the park?' and 'Where were the sheep going in that big truck?' (!!)"

     

    Now, I was raised on a farm, but I have no intention of explaining the existence of abattoirs to my city grandchildren - not in a Nan’s job description. What followed next was just a golden grandmother moment as I explained how we had had many pet lambs growing up. She wanted to know names and then stories, so I reminisced." 

     

    "I read Elvie to my grandson’s tonight. One of them took the book to bed with him and then to school the next day."

     

    "My 8 year old won’t stop reading it."

     

    "Molly has hidden the book under her bed so her sisters can’t find it."

     

    "My grandson received two picture books on the same day, but it is the Elvie book that he loves."

     

    “My husband Harry was reading Elvie to the grandchildren and suddenly realised he knew Laurie Pollock who was a builder and his apprentice Trevor Jackson was a mate of my husband. They were teenagers at the time and keen on hunting. They shot a big goat and realised it had a baby goat, so they took it back to Wellington and Trevor gave it to His boss, Laurie Pollock who lived in Kilbirnie. Laurie Pollock put the baby goat in his back yard….. with ….you guessed it – Elvie the Sheep. On the front few pages there is a photo of Elvie, the Pollock children and a sturdy little goat. It is the one that Harry and Trevor rescued. All these years later, Harry and Trevor are great friends and had a wonderful time talking about those days.” – Trish Harrison

     

    “I live next door to where Elvie the Sheep used to live. My neighbour lent me the book – it’s great.”

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