Meet Pippa. She's a delightful, brave, and adventurous little pigeon with big blue sky ambitions. She decides one day to fly solo and explore the world beyond her nest. But her parents are less than thrilled. Pippa, however, ignores them and takes a leap into the unknown... alone.
Welcome to the exciting adventure of
Pippa, the latest picture book written by award-winning Brisbane-based author Dimity Powell.
The inspiration for Pippa came directly from Dimity's own childhood.
"I kept homing pigeons in a backyard loft," Dimity tells me.
"We used to toss a few of the ex-racing stock and breed them. I spent a lot of my free time just hanging out with them. They are fascinating creatures; so much more than just the winged-city-vermin that most people associate them with. Their ability to find their way back home from distances far away is not only incredible but as yet still not fully understood by us mere humans. This, plus the notion that adventures are fine things to embark on but what happens when you need to find your way home, were the main motivators for Pippa's story."
More about DimityNow based in Brisbane, Dimity grew up in Far North Queensland and Adelaide, where she spent lots of her time reading and writing. When she 'grew up', she went travelling around Europe, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean with her husband in the super motor yacht industry. Then after many years away, they returned to Australia to start a family.
"It was during the first year of my child's life that I quickly realised I was never going back to my role as Director of Marketing," she says.
"I wanted instead to balance full-time mummyhood with my long yearned for passion of writing." So about ten years ago Dimity began writing for children professionally. And she hasn't looked back.
Dimity has published over 27 stories so far, including short stories, junior novels, and digital narratives. But her favourite stories to write are picture books.
"Picture books are my all-time obsession: to read, to write, to wax lyrical about," she says.
"For me, they are exquisite works of art able to express any emotion and notion, in engaging, entertaining and inspiring ways. Pure magic."
PippaDimity's latest picture book is exactly what she describes: pure magic.
"Essentially I wanted to create a story about following your heart and recognising that it will always lead you in the right direction," Dimity says. "I wanted to explore the outcomes of one adventurous spirit who threw caution to the wind and took off into the unknown…alone. This yearning – to explore – reflects the behaviour of many young children. Pippa seemed the perfect character choice to portray feelings of wanting to 'take flight and get away'. Originally, Pippa was Columbus in reference to a homing pigeon's scientific name, Columbia livia and in homage to one of our other great explorers and risk-takers, Christopher Columbus."
Through the story of Pippa, Dimity wants to encourage young children to take risks from time to time, as long as they're safe and legal! Because if "we didn't venture to extend ourselves, try new things, and risk failure now and then, we might miss out on some truly wonderful and unexpected new discoveries."
Pippa's tale also has a subtle sub-message for parents and carers. "As a parent I understand the line between protecting and smothering can be wobbly and ill-defined at times," Dimity explains. "But I believe it is beneficial for youngsters to experience the realities of life even when there's a possibility they are not all pleasant. It boils down to the adage; if you don't let them jump, how will they know if they can fly or not. Luckily, Pippa learnt to fly fast!"
Pippa has certainly been flying fast since her 'release' last year. She has enjoyed a couple of book launches and visited several schools, and made her first TV appearance on Channel 9 GO! as part of a Queensland statewide reading@home initiative.
The plucky adventurer has also appeared online via YouTube channels, in libraries and most recently on the CBCA NSW Branch's Lunchtime Storytime event.
Pippa is published by Ford Street Publishing and can be purchased via their website
here. You can also get your copy of Pippa via
Boomerang Books and
Booktopia.
Pippa will be making a few appearances during
Children's Book Week later this year, so make sure you look to the skies and watch out for this plucky, endearing adventurer!
Pippa is recommended for younger readers aged 3-6. Available in both hardback and paperback.
For more information about Pippa's equally brave and adventurous creator, Dimity Powell, please visit her website
here.
