A new children’s picture book series created by Christchurch broadcaster Adam Percival and set in Sumner has launched across New Zealand.

Percival co-created Daisy and Gus with friend Matt Wild, drawing on their own lives as fathers of young children to build stories grounded in everyday Kiwi family life.

He said the pair wanted to fill a gap they saw in children’s entertainment. “Seeing what our kids were into and what they were watching we’re like well let’s have more of a New Zealand flavour on these stories and just the everydayness of our lives as dads.”

Percival said keeping the books local to Christchurch was central to the project. “The whole point of Daisy and Gus is to get this around the country.”

“Kids and families can read Daisy and Gus and see where they’re from and ultimately for them to come to Christchurch and visit where Daisy and Gus grow up.”

He said future books would feature recognisable Christchurch landmarks, including Sumner, the new stadium, the trams, the gondola, the mountains and the beach.

The first book, Don’t Feed the Seagulls, captures a family beach outing disrupted by hungry birds. Percival said the story was drawn entirely from real life, and that his own fear of birds had fed into it.

“When one seagull arrives there’s another one then another one then and then you’ve just got 50 seagulls and the whole day the whole lunch is ruined.”

He said the dad in the book shared that fear. “In the book you’ll be able to see that the dad is petrified of the seagulls and they’ve got to try to work out plan B on how they’re going to escape the seagulls.”

Percival said the series was designed to be wholesome and simple. He hoped the characters would endure for decades. “These are stories that hopefully our kids who are three now when they’re 33 43 they’ll be reading to their kids.”

The project drew on the talents of Beth Harvey, an animation director who has worked on the hit children’s series Bluey. Percival said the connection began with a cold email after he and Wild had admired the Australian show and wanted a New Zealand equivalent.

“We should try and just fire off a random email to the animation director of Bluey,” he said. “Next thing you know we’re talking to Beth Harvey.”

He said Harvey spent several months developing the characters with the pair before the final designs of Daisy and Gus and their family were settled.

Percival, who has a background in children’s television, said the picture book was the first step in a wider plan for the brand.

He said audio stories were due within months, and the team hoped to develop an animation and pitch it to NZ On Air and TVNZ, with stage shows and school holiday productions further down the track.

“We would love to turn this into an animation,” he said.

“Big dreams, but you know you have to start somewhere and this is where we’re starting with our very first picture book.”

You can buy the book here