It’s not just Whitcoulls, with its very public financial struggle and consequent sale in mid-last year, that is being affected by the slow sales of books in New Zealand. With literacy levels dropping year on year, the lack of trading is also keeping our country’s authors downtrodden and many of our stories untold. But the New Zealand Book Council, just like other separate entities like NZ Book Month, which won the not-for-profit gong at the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards last year for trying to put a book in the hands of every Kiwi, is out to change this. And it’s latest ad, which was made by Colenso BBDO and follows up from the haunting and very well-awarded Going West with some more engaging paper artistry, aims to show the printed word can shape and inspire.