By Casey Neill
A Kooyong mum’s new book started as a primary school writing project.
Penny O’Loughlin launched Bud and Buzz at Readings Hawthorn in February.
“Its origins are just around the corner,” she told the packed store.
“When I was in Year 2 at St Joseph’s I wrote a story called The Rose and it was published in the parish bulletin.
“That story has evolved into Bud and Buzz.
“So keep reading and writing those stories because you never know where they’ll end up.”
Bud and Buzz, illustrated by Laura Cortinovis, follows a bashful flower named Bud, who discovers the beauty of nature and the importance of resilience through an unexpected friendship with Buzz the bee.
Bud weathers the storm before it’s his time to shine.
Penny wanted to encourage children to appreciate the beauty around them and learn about pollination.
Her background is architecture and landscape architecture, and she’s worked as a landscape designer for years.
“I learn a lot from plants and nature,” she said.
She shared seeds with the dozens of people who attended the launch – “to bring Buds and bees to their own gardens” – as well as honey lollipops and honey-based Anzac biscuits baked by her mum.
Penny thanked husband Brad, eldest son Fletcher, and youngest son Harry.
“Our Bud. This book is for you,” she said.
She wrote her first book, the self-published Winding Down, for Fletcher.
“He is an extremely bright and passionate boy who sees the world with very different eyes,” she said.
“This energy and brightness were and still are very hard to wind down at the end of the day.”
Penny tried audiobooks, essential oils, meditations, music, relaxation sounds, teas, warm baths, candles, weighted blankets, massage, and more.
When she couldn’t find the right book to support both her and Fletcher through their bedtime battles, Penny wrote it.
“My favourite thing to do in my life is to go to a book store and read the children’s books,” she said at the Bud and Buzz lauch.
So she’d pursued her passion and taken a children’s book author course while pregnant with Harry.
“I love the simple tales and parables that can explain complex topics simply and with comedy,” she said.
Winding Down is “rhythmic, almost like a meditation”.
“As it’s read, it calms the reader too,” she said.
“We overschedule ourselves, with the rapid pace of the world.
“It’s about taking a moment to pause and just be.”
A publisher picked up Penny for Bud and Buzz, inspired by her experience parenting Harry.
“I felt like I needed to do this for him,” she said.
