I’ve heard so many people say that they want to write a children’s book – or three – as if it is easy. There’s only a few words, right? A few pretty pics?
Sure.
I’ve always been a little sceptical, figuring that if it was that simple, everyone would be doing it. Even so, I hoped it would be so. I can now tell you, it isn’t!
Having navigated the self-publishing route to printed copy, I can tell you it takes planning, cooperation, the help and support of your nearest and dearest, and – most critically – staying power.
I know this because I have just recently published a series of three children’s books, more by accident than design, as it is not what I really set out to do. What I intended was to write a few playful stories for my first grandchild that would relate to the old photos I had of my daughters – his mum and his aunt – as children. They spent some of their formative years on Norfolk Island living an enviable childhood that was unique, carefree and one that is rarely found today. As I looked through the photos, I thought of all the stories that were represented by them and quickly realised these were special and rare, and worth recording.
What started out as a long series of rhyming couplets, soon morphed into a book, and then very quickly that turned into three – mainly because I kept writing!
All the stories are based on real events. Alice the sheep really did get stuck up a peach tree, and George the colourful wrasse and Eddie the eagle ray still live in Emily Bay. Every child loves the magic of the island’s banyan tree and most will believe that fairies live there. Children still get excited by the spring church fete and children still help Mums and Dads pick guavas to make the local speciality, guava jelly.
The best part of this journey was when my youngest, Annie, suggested that she would like to give the illustrations a go.
So there we were, no experience whatsoever. Plenty of enthusiasm. Some words, and a few vague ideas of how we wanted the books to look. In a way COVID-19 worked in our favour. Annie was isolated in Wagga Wagga with her partner and had little paid work and some spare time on her hands. With a fistful of photos and many long chats across the internet, Annie put something together that no other illustrator could possibly have achieved. She knows her subjects so intimately that she was able to capture every nuance of their characters.
Both adopted, my daughters are very different. I mean Very Different. I always describe Libby, her older sibling, as a high achiever, destined to wear red stilettos while striding swiftly down the corridors of power. Cutting to the chase, insightful, critical thinker, organised, reliable. She is now on the pathway to being a specialist paediatrician. But I still suspect that she will branch off along her journey and be the boss of something amazing and significant.
Annie is a rainbow child. She really needs that combi van with ‘peace not war’ stickers plastered over it. She just knows when you are down. She asks the right questions and says the right things to soothe and heal. She’s talented, artistic, creative, imaginative and pretty cool. She can be relied on to be unreliable. And organised? Let’s just say she is a lot better now than she used to be.
Our books are crafted the old-fashioned way. Illustrated by hand and not by computerised imagery, they are personal. I am completely delighted that Annie has captured the characters of herself and her sister so perfectly. My not-yet-two grandson, who’s not quite ready to be read a whole book at one sitting, proudly pointed out his Mum and Auntie Annie to me as we dipped in and out of the stories.
In that moment my world stopped turning and my heart melted. This was why I wrote the books in the first place. These stories are now part of my family’s folklore. They are Seb’s heritage, and that of any other grandchildren who may come along.
And that makes me happier than any decent reviews, accolades, or financial rewards.
Want to buy a copy? Or maybe the set?
The three books are all available online in hardcover, softcover and ebook versions at all the usual online book stores. Follow the links to Amazon, or search the titles below, and shop around to get the best prices (over which I have no control, unfortunately).
