Santa's little helper SONYA'S STORY OF HOPE

With Christmas just around the corner, the TV star wants a kid's book in every home

- Fiona Terry

Lying awake one night wishing she'd read more as a child, author and TV presenter Sonya Wilson was struck with an idea that would change the course of Christmas for not just her own family, but also thousands more across Aotearoa.

The mum of two recalls it was while she was sleeplessly trying to re-write a short story for her postgraduate creative writing coursework.

"It was 3am and I was turning the words over in my head, cursing that I hadn't read more and didn't have a wider literary background to draw on," says Sonya, 44, who's worked as a reporter, presenter and producer on  programmes including One News and Q+A.

"That got me thinking how beneficial and mind-expanding reading is for kids, and how privileged my own are to grow up in a household full of books. Through no fault of their own, so many grow up without them. It seemed so unfair."

She pledged to herself to buy and donate children's books that Christmas to worthy causes, and persuaded family and friends to do the same, offering to deliver them on their behalf. She encouraged people to buy works by New Zealand authors and to shop at local bookshops.

As word spread, donations of enticing titles came in thick and fast, and boxes of them piled up in Sonya's Auckland home. Luckily, her husband Pete Ritchie and sons Art, 11, and Hector, nine, were understanding of the storage arrangement dominating their hallway.