ALEX HICKEY | Culture
IT’LL BE EASY
A first time Kiwi father is planning to write his own series of children’s books after being underwhelmed with the reading options for his new baby.
Amelia Jefferson gave birth to a baby boy one week ago. Her husband, Scott, has taken some time away from his job as an arborist to help settle into life as a young family.
Scott says he was excited about the opportunity to read to his young son, and was grateful to be given books from friends and family who had children of their own.
“They were alright, but they were pretty boring,” Jefferson says. “I used to love books when I was a kid, but these ones were just not that good. And they were supposed to be their favourites! I was like, ‘What?’”
He’s determined to solve the problem himself, by writing his own series of books. Jefferson doesn’t have any formal writing experience, but says he passed NCEA English at school.
“I’ve already got heaps of ideas. I’m just keen to do real fun ones – books that are crack up to read and have good pictures and stuff.
“I’ve got this one idea about a farmer from Te Awamutu who lost his tractor. And then in another book he loses his motorbike. I keep thinking up all these things he can lose, it’ll be pretty funny. Way better than Wonky Donkey anyway.”
Jefferson is due to return to work in two weeks, but he’s adamant he’ll have time to pen a full series in the coming months.
“Having a new baby is actually pretty mellow,” he says. “There’s heaps of time just napping so I can write then. I haven’t started yet but I will.
“Then maybe step back from work one or two days a week and help out. We’ll have some money coming in from the book sales so yeah, that’ll be good.”
More to come.
Big fan of the Whakataki? Head over to the support page and become a Whakataki backer. You can also follow us on Insta.
