Sharing a fond family memory

Olive Cotton headlined a rare author event at the Mount Gambier Library on Thursday.

Typically the headline act at library author events are the authors themselves and they are usually adults but in Olive’s case she is 11 years old and the illustrator of a newly released children’s book ‘The Cat Surprise’.

The book project is a collaboration with her Queensland-based grandmother Joan Koskela and borne out of a family story time that has now evolved into a published work.

“One day, Grandma was telling me and the other grandchildren the true story of Gingie the Cat and we loved it so much that we all thought that it would be a great story to share with others,” Olive said.

The story of Gingie is in fact the story of Olive’s mother Libby’s childhood pet.

Olive already has notebooks filled with her own short stories and she immediately started to document her grandmother’s family memory in a similar notebook.

It was then the project started to take on a life of its own so the transcribing of the story moved to the computer.

“Grandma put it into a powerpoint format and we decided I should draw some pictures for it – I never through it would end up being a real published book,” Olive said.

Olive drafted some illustrations and worked on her creations until she was happy with the final result.

“Some I was happy with straight away and others took a bit more work,” Olive said.

Her grandmother, who is also a counsellor, has previously published a book so she had the required contacts and before Olive knew it, a book she had illustrated was being delivered to her front door.

The library was the first place Olive went to show off her pet project and it is available to borrow from the Mount Gambier facility.

The book is also available for sale for $20 with the family looking to find a local stockist as well as being available online.

This book illustration project is just the latest in a string of entrepreneurial projects for the home schooled 11-year-old.

As a nine year old she set up Handpainted by Olive Cotton when her card making business started to take off.

She had always loved painting – a passion that deepened when a family friend came to visit a couple of years ago, teaching the budding artist the skill of watercolour painting, and Olive was hooked.

When the house guest sent a handmade card as a thank you for the visit, Olive decided card making was a perfect outlet for her creative talents and her business was born.

“I started painting cards with flowers and then ferns and then I decided I could do Christmas cards,” Olive said.

She was able to secure a distribution outlet at Brew Coffee Bar and while she has explored other opportunities, Brew, even when management changed, has proven to be a great location.

Olive, who is always looking for the next challenge, the next project, has also added resin key rings to her business model.

Olive’s author event was part of the library’s school holiday program and saw Olive reading the book, taking part in a Q&A, book signing and a craft activity.