Not content with having his exploits translated into Chinese, Hairy Maclary now hopes to become an internet star.
An interactive website for the Donaldson Dairy dog and his friends will go live next week, built for Hairy Maclary franchise owner Penguin by New Zealand web company NV Interactive.
The free site will include illustrations, resources to create children’s parties and, soon, games, as well as links to online stores where visitors can buy Hairy Maclary e-books.
It has been designed as a single big page that children can scroll down and across, a new trend in web design.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce read excerpts from Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy in Shanghai this week during a trade mission to China.
It was done to promote new Chinese-language versions of the popular children’s books by Kiwi author Lynley Dodd.
NV Interactive managing director Matt Pickering said Penguin was giving the franchise a good grooming ahead of Hairy Maclary’s 30th birthday in July. Many hundreds of hours had gone into creating the website, he said.
«I grew up with Hairy Maclary so I was really excited when we got the call from Penguin. For the first year-and-half of my daughter’s life, it was Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy every night.»
