A Gunnedah woman is encouraging children to be "who you are on the inside, on the outside" in her first-ever book.
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Jade Punch's children's book, The Sheep Dog, is "hot off the press" and a copy has found its way onto the shelves of the Gunnedah Shire Library.
Mrs Punch donated a copy to the children's section on Wednesday and told the NVI it was a tribute to her nanna Nancy Jaeger who is always full of stories.
The Sheep Dog is about a maltese terrior that wants to be a working dog and is based on a tale from Ms Jaeger's told her grandchildren from her childhood.
Mrs Punch said her nanna used to forge sick notes for her twin Colin so he could skip school and go on "a great, big droving adventure". This inspired Mrs Punch to write a book about embracing your dreams and she chose a dog because it's her Nanna's favourite animal.
"I wanted to write a story that captured the essence of my nanna, retold one of her amazing memories but also sent a message out to the children of today's society because I think it's really important to instill those lovely life lessons in a book," she said.
"I know that's the way my child best learns ... so the underlying message of this book is: be who you are on the inside. Don't let the expectations of where you grew up, what you look like, who people expect you to be, don't let that dampen who you want to be on the inside."
Mrs Punch wasn't alone in creating the book, with illustrations by members of The Sisterhood of the Couch Surfing Canvas Collective.
Unlike a traditional children's book, the image of the main character changes over the course of the book.
"I wanted something that was a collaborative local artwork as well as a local story ... I thought, 'Anybody can put out a book that has a collection of pictures that tell the story'," Mrs Punch said.
"What's different about this book is that every illustration is unique. Each person who did an illustration was given one snippet of text. They weren't privy to anything else in the book.
"Right throughout the book, the dog completely changes in colour, in breed - in one page, he's even wearing a hat. So each time you turn the page, you get to dive into another artist's point of view."
Mrs Punch said the book has been in the works for a few years and she wrote a draft in time for her nanna's 90th birthday in November last year.
"I wanted to be able to honour her in the best way I could think of; honour her in a unique way," she said.
"Nanna has always been exactly who she is, no matter who is around. I wanted to instill that in the message in the book and create something I felt represented her."
Mrs Punch will launch The Sheep Dog on Sunday at 1pm at 4 Eva Keepsakes.
Did you know our library has a number of books by local authors? NVI's own Heather MacLean and Ron McLean are among the authors who have donated copies of their books.
