Local family duo team up for ocean safety

Point Lonsdale’s Sally Cordner and her niece Lucy Simms have joined forces to release their first children’s book I’m a Nipper Now, which aims to raise awareness of beach and ocean safety.

Inspired by a real-life group of six friends, the book showcases the group embarking on their first day of Nippers and all the nerves that go with it.

On their first day, the group witness their first real-life surf rescue and are exposed to the world of surf and ocean safety, which then sparks them into learning more about how they can look after others in their community.

Both Corner (author) and her niece Simms (illustrator) grew up on the Bellarine Peninsula and participated in surf lifesaving when they were younger.

From the beach flags to the Nipper caps and the blue sea in between, the pair recognised the amazing service that Surf Life Saving offers and wanted to make a book that documented that community impact.

“We were both of the same mind that we wanted to raise awareness of the amazing job that surf clubs do for the community, while also raising awareness of water and beach safety due to the high number of drownings over summer,” Cordner said.

“What better way than to educate children from a young age through a program like Nippers to learn the dangers of swimming in non-patrolled areas and the safety aspects of swimming between the flags.

“Observing the Nipper program for as long as we have brought us to thinking as well, that first day nerves for the many young children who participate, is not easy to overcome for some.

Therefore we also wanted to offer a real experience to the young readers of the book.

“The main character Mea is very scared and very unsure of what Nippers are and what she needs to do, her nerves and anxiety were very apparent.

“However she overcomes the situation by firstly making friends and then, by witnessing a real life rescue, begins her Nipper journey with some real understanding of what her role might be and knows she will have fun while learning.”
s a means of getting the book out to reach people far and wide, the local pair were thrilled to partner with Surf Life Saving Australia and Boolarong Press who helped to endorse the product.

“Surf Life Saving Australia were great to work with and have been very supportive.

“Their advice in order to bring reality to the story was much appreciated and to have their endorsement was awesome.

“Boolarong Press have also been amazing with their assistance and communication to their us as novice author and illustrator… we could not have achieved what we have without both SLSA and Boolarong Press.”

As first time publishers, Sally and Lucy said the world is their oyster and they hope to continue their partnerships with both SLSA and Boolarong on a suite of projects.

The book is available from selected bookstores and more information can be found at https://boolarongpress.com.au/product/im-a-nipper-now/