Suzy Cato says her King's Birthday honour 'sounds very grown up'

Suzy Cato has been a central figure in children's television, music, and education for more than 35 years.

She became a household name after joining The Early Bird Show in 1990, and soon followed with popular programmes You and Me and Suzy's World, in which she educated children with activities, stories and songs.

In recent years Cato is now reaching new generations of Kiwi kids on Youtube with Suzy's Book Corner, new music, and uploads of her shows from the 1990s.

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She also co-hosts the weekly children's radio programme Suzy & Friends, which is made into a podcast with RNZ.

Cato has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. She told First Up the honour feels very official.

"It sounds very grown up and really not like me, but hey, I'm going to take it thank you very much."

She said she had no idea who nominated her for the award, but they must have written a very nice letter.

"That's incredible, to be acknowledged for my mahi, but the mahi of so many others, for such amazing causes: tamariki, whānau, and community as well."

Cato credits Rex Simpson, the creator of The Early Bird Show, for getting her into TV.

"Those were the glory days of television, and Rex had about eight or nine programs on TV3 at the time. And I got chatting to him at a barbecue.

"We got talking about what I really liked in a children's television presenter. And it was Catherine McPherson that really connected me.

"An amazing woman who, the chaos of what now was happening all around her, she joined in, and then she turned away, kind of went, 'Come on guys', and talked to you through the television set like you were there.

"That's what I loved about children's television presenters, her in particular, because you were still part of the fun, but she really brought you into it, because of the way she connected through the TV.

"I had a really interesting conversation with my kids about 10, 12 years ago. We were sitting in the car and a breakfast radio station was having the biggest party, and the studio sounded like so much fun. I said, 'wow, what do you think guys? It sounds like fun, doesn't it?' And they said, 'yeah, but we're not a part of it'.

"[The radio hosts] had missed the point. They were having this great party in the studio, but they weren't connecting with their audience. They weren't bringing their audience in, and making them feel like they were there with the streamers and all the rest of it themselves."

Cato said she was comfortable in front of the camera from the beginning.

"I guess I've always dreamed of being a performer and I love being on stage and things like that, and getting the reaction from the audience.

"The thing is too is what you do when you are in front of the camera. You don't think of it as a camera. You imagine the camera as being one of your viewers, just one.

"If it's a young person, what time of the morning are you making this programme for, is it first thing? Are they bleary eyed? Have they got Marmite on their face? You know, there's Coco Pops down the front, that kind of thing.

"You just imagine that person, and then you bring them in."

It is a skill she uses on Suzy and Friends, her weekly radio show with co-host Trevor Plant.

"I said, 'hey do you want to make a radio show with me?' and he said 'yeah!' So we're just two big kids, we started making this programme and it grew and grew and grew. So now it's on 25 access stations around the country. It's on all the little regionals. And it's grown into the podcast here on RNZ."

Not only is Cato still active on air and online but she's regularly on stage for live events, including her monthly Sounds Fun concerts at Auckland's Tuning Fork.

"One of the things, I guess, that having been in television for such a long time, I've got some wonderful connections and I've got a name that when I knock on the door, people go, 'oh yeah I know you'. So I put to the Tuning Fork with Spark Arena and said 'hey, this would make a great venue for kids' shows'. And they went 'really?'."

"... I love the way that it connects with so many people from a heart and soul point of view. I mean generations, it's in our DNA now through You and Me and Suzy's World and things like that."