Limestone Coast based author and educator Kylie Tull is about to unveil her sixth book, tapping into her lifelong passion for reading and writing.
“I have always been obsessed with books and have loved writing all my life,” Kylie said. “As a teacher, I have an even deeper appreciation of high quality children’s literature.”
And it is in that genre of children’s literature that Kylie has plied her trade, co-authoring her first five offerings with Lara Cain Gray as part of the Library for All Dual Language Program.
“These books are to support literacy and access to books for everyone across the globe,” Kylie said. “They are each published in five different languages.”
Sheep Wants To Play, Cat and Dog Get Angry, How Do You Feel Today?, Being Brave and Ted and Sofia Love Bugs are those five titles with her latest book, Huxley’s Home, a solo project on the writing front, as she details the adventures of a hermit crab.
Huxley’s shell is too small, but his mission to find a new home is hampered by an ocean of litter.
Huxley spends his days feasting on the delicious algae surrounding his ocean reef but when Huxley realises that his shell has become too tight, he sets off on an adventure to find a new home.
Along the way, Huxley finds several strange objects, but they don’t come from the ocean and would make a bad shell!
Will Huxley ever find his home?
“I have written the text for the book and developed the story,” Kylie said, with the publisher then sourcing an illustrator for the book.
Of course, a key part of Kylie’s process is road testing her stories and she is fortunate to have a captive audience.
“I have a wonderful network of family, friends and fellow educators, as well as my own four kids,” she said.
Her foray into being an author builds on her obsession with poetry and writing from an early age and dovetails perfectly into her almost two-decade career as an educator.
“Believing that every child is an author with countless stories to tell, I have a passion for inspiring young readers to fall in love with creating stories of their own,” she said. “I believe that children are made readers on their parent’s laps, and are made writers through connection, conversation and storytelling.”
The launch of Huxley’s Home is set down for October 12 at the Mount Gambier Library, as part of the school holiday program, with the official release date of the book September 5
