Swine flu bout inspires illustrated book

For Broome schoolgirl Tamzyne Richardson, a serious brush with swine flu has put her on the road to becoming a published author.

Two years ago the 10-year-old Roebuck Primary School student was bed-ridden, and came up with the idea to write a story.

The result was a poem named My Home Broome that is now being turned into a book by Broome publishing house Magabala Books.

“My dad grew up in Broome since he was a little boy, so I thought it would be good to write a book about Broome and all the cool things about it … mangoes, palm trees, the Yawuru people, bush fruit, storm clouds, rainy season,” Tamzyne said.

Tamzyne’s swine flu bout was a scary episode for her, as she suffered high temperatures, vomiting, and was unable to walk for a time.

“I’d recovered a lot but I was still sick, and that’s when I got the idea of writing a book,” she said.

“My mum gave me a few suggestions, so I put it into a story and it ended up being a nice little poem.” Tamzyne and her mother then approached Magabala Books with the poem, which is now expected to be on bookshelves in mid-2012.

To illustrate the book, a group of students, chosen from each of Broome’s primary schools, is now working under the tutelage of local artist, illustrator and author Bronwyn Houston.

“It’s not necessarily the easiest way to go about illustrating a book, but because of the nature of Tamzyne’s poem as a celebration of Broome and what it’s about, we thought it would be cool to use Broome kids to put the artwork together,” she said.

Mrs Houston said she hoped to draw on the children’s strengths in different mediums, such as ink, paints, sketching and chalks.

“They’re all very good at what they do – I’m seeing some fantastic work, even just in the first week,” she said.