My Writing Journey..

Writing stories for young children and having them printed was something that happened quite accidentally. The idea for the seagull book came about during many walks along the beautiful Victorian Mornington Peninsula beaches. It occurred to me that there were seagulls around all day, but never after sunset.

Children have a natural curiosity and a desire for answers. Writing the book would provide opportunities for them to come up with answers. For language development in classroom settings I included the use of alliteration. The book can also be used for Maths and Environmental Studies.

When Josephine read the story she offered to illustrate it. It provided her with the opportunity to learn a new computer program to create the stunning illustrations to accompany the text. Josephine and I decided to have the book printed as a hard cover copy, followed by a soft cover edition. I am grateful to Josephine for the countless hours she spent creating the striking illustrations. Thank you Josephine.

During my daily walks during the COVID lockdown, the idea for the story about a cat called Daisy took shape. Daisy belonged to a lady who lived in my apartment building. My long time school friend, Jan, offered to do the delightful illustrations so ideally suited to the text. Jan and I have been close friends since our school days together. I am grateful to her for the many hours she spent creating the delightful pictures for the three books, each one different, but so suited to the story lines. Thank you Jan.

Once again, my teaching experience led to the inclusion of language development strategies. The repetitive story lines could be fun in an Early Learning Centre or a Prep classroom, with individual children taking turns to be the reader. When studying adverbs in writing, the examples in the text could be used as models. ‘Come Here Daisy’ is a true story and can be used as a way for encouraging children to write about things they know.

‘Little Stories for Little Children’ is written in simple rhyming language. Knowing how much young children love and respond to rhyming words gave me the idea for my third book. The little stories are based on things young children are familiar with and about topics of interest to them. Jan created the illustrations so appropriate for each little story.

‘It’s Friday 13th Daisy’ is also written in rhyming text. Once again Jan’s imagination led to the delightful, colourful illustrations to accompany the text.

The book ‘J and J and 10 ISA Browns’ eventuated from an idea after my brother mentioned hens had been acquired on a farming property. I remember saying maybe I could write a story about them. When he said each hen had a name, listing the extraordinary names, the story took shape. Thinking how difficult it could be to draw repetitive pictures of hens, I asked him if he could take photographs to match the text. The book, once again written in rhyming text, features full-page colour photographs, educating children about the origin of eggs. I owe many thanks to my brother for his enduring support.

It has been surprising and rewarding to experience such positive responses from people when they see and read the books. Not having a publisher, nor self-publishing has meant exploring different ways to sell the books. Marketing them is challenging. Jan and I chose a printer with a website for ‘Come Here Daisy’. Exposure to the public and becoming recognised is the key. Several of the books have been purchased by libraries and have sold in bookshops. Jan and I have had success selling the books at small markets. So creating a webpage is another step.

I owe thanks to my son for his patience and encouragement helping to launch the website. I also owe thanks to my brother and his partner for the photos and video clips.

Initiating the website led to another book being printed as an added incentive. The next book, ‘Do you like honey?’ is ready to be printed. It is an educational book for young children. Full colour photographs add reality to the rhyming text explaining how honey is made. Not only is the book suitable for adults to read and to share with young children, it is also suitable for teachers in Early Learning Centres and classrooms.