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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN VORAKA
Article Published on 22nd January 2024 by Gabriel Valor | www.vorakamag.com
"Kelly At The Seaside” is a beautiful seaside adventure with Kelly and her dad. The story shows the lovely bond between father and daughter, who is a cat but is part of the family, and the love they have for each other. The story reminds people in difficult times that fun can still be had without spending a lot of money.
Paddling in the sea, and making sandcastles, but safety is always on Dad’s mind. Because the story is not too long, it is a lovely story for bedtime, and quiet time, as children can get fidgety or bored. The story takes you away to a lovely sunny beach; the way it is written makes you think you are there as well, with your feet in the sea, building the biggest sandcastle, tasting the sandwiches, on a sunny day.
Hoping the other people on the beach are having fun helps the reader remember special times they have had on a trip to the seaside. The beautiful illustrations that go side by side with the story can be followed when reading the adventure, or a child can look at them as if somebody else is reading the story to them, making the book interactive for the child as well.
Kelly At The Seaside has been written on purpose with no long difficult words, as the author knows not everybody finds it easy to read, and children learn at different stages. With great spacing between the sentences as well, making the story easier to follow.
Even though Kelly is a cat and human-like, you could imagine yourself on that beach, playing with a child, or animal. It is about making memories, and after reading the story, the adult could speak about their childhood memories of going on trips out and then ask the child what they like to do and their best trip.
You don’t have to be an animal lover to enjoy this book; it is for everybody. To sum up, Kelly At The Seaside Adventure is about having fun, quality time with a parent, not doing everything in one trip but planning on doing them the next time with both parents, and a trip does not have to cost a lot of money.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alison started her journey to being an author during COVID-19 times. The only other writing she had done was a blog about her father, who had mixed dementia and sadly passed away in 2022. During her employed working career, Alison has worked in office environments and for the last 19 years in the financial industry.
Like a lot of other people, Alison was working from home instead of being in an office environment during the COVID-19 times and knew how important family, friends, and people around her were. It was about being there for each other, keeping in touch with each other, remembering it is the little things in life that can make a difference.
She wanted to do something different for Malcolm, her husband’s birthday. Instead of going out to buy a present, she decided to do an adventure about their precious four-paw cat daughter, called Kelly, who follows her dad around. So, the story "Kelly At The Seaside" was born.
Here is how the story got published, and Alison became an Author. It was a comment that a good friend of hers made about her blog, stating it was well-written. It made her think, "I wonder if anybody would be interested in publishing 'Kelly At The Seaside.'"
The search started, with which publishers were looking for children’s stories and Olympia Publishers were looking for new submissions. Once the story was submitted, it was just a waiting game. She was extremely happy when the story was accepted and was going to be published.
Alison was very involved in deciding on the illustrations, making sure she was happy at every stage, which is very important. Also, learning about the process as this was completely new to her. Now her book is published, and she is now an author.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ALISON PUTMAN
How did your experience writing a blog about your father's mixed dementia influence your storytelling in "Kelly at the Seaside"?
Anybody who has dealt with dementia, sadly will know that the person’s brain starts to forget the ability to do normal tasks, which could be walking, and feeding themselves, they are going back in years, referencing their abilities. This reminded me how important learning is at a young age, reading and writing.
During the work-from-home period, how did your perspective on relationships and the value of small moments shape the narrative in your book?
Relationships around me were very important, making sure we all stayed safe during COVID-19, not going out to the shops or restaurants. It reminded me, about how important the little things in life are, making memories, not spending lots of money. So, I wanted that to come across in my book, Kelly At The Seaside.
What inspired the unique birthday gift idea for your husband that eventually led to "Kelly at the Seaside"?
To continue reading the full interview, click here to download the January 2024 Literature special issue XV.