Alyssa Fritzlaff
LOCAL woman Julie Patterson was “blown away” when she found out her children’s book was being published.
Ms Patterson’s book, Peggy’s Day on the Farm, is based on real events from the author’s own life.
It was both written and illustrated by Ms Patterson, who described the entire experience as “surreal”.
The children’s book is targeted at children aged 5-8 years, and follows young girl Peggy as she explores a farm.
Ms Patterson lives in Latrobe Valley, but was born in Brisbane and moved to Sale at a young age.
She has always been creative and enjoyed spending time at her uncle’s farm.
“I’ve always been artistic, even as a young kid, I used to write to writing groups. It’s just something that I like to do, and I’ve always liked drawing,” she said.
Ms Patterson would often take a notepad and pencils down to the river on fishing trips with her family to relieve the boredom when the fish were not biting.
As a child her favourite books were the Twits by Roald Dahl, and Watership Down by Richard Adams.
While Ms Patterson does not have children of her own, she spent many years as a Cub Scout Leader and did weekend respite care for full-time foster carers.
“As much as I’ve not got children myself, I’ve had a lot to do with children of that age. Whether it be through foster care, scouting and just my own family,” she said.
“The younger you can get them reading, the more developed their minds are…I think it just helps them with their education.”
Ms Patterson worked in banking for many years including as a branch manager in Sale.
However, she eventually changed career paths and ended up in the Corrections industry – where she still works today.
Now happily married and living in the Valley, Ms Patterson has had time to rekindle her love for drawing.
“As you get older you don’t find the time to do it, I probably hadn’t picked up a pencil to draw for 25 years, and then when I start doing it, I started really enjoying it again,” she said.
“Life tends to get busy and it is easy to forget to take time out for yourself.”
