My mission

Hi, my name is Jodie, and my mission is to create a beautiful and entertaining picture book that connects children and their families with the Blue Mountains, Australia. 

Whether you live in the Blue Mountains, you’ve visited before or you just love good Australian bush animal stories – Leonard the Lyrebird is the perfect book for the little ones in your life.

It's created by Blue Mountains locals – written by me, Jodie McLeod, and illustrated by textile designer and children's product illustrator, Eloise Short – and it has all the hallmarks of a great picture book: engaging illustrations, a good story, a strong but not overstated message and... animals! 

By making a pledge to this campaign, you'll not only be helping children everywhere connect with this incredible part of Australia, but you'll also be helping them discover and delight in the joy of reading. 

About the book

Leonard the lyrebird is friends with everyone, and boy can he sing! But will Leonard’s singing talents impress the one friend he really wants?

Set in the beautiful bush of the Blue Mountains, Australia, this story is about friendship, bravery and being yourself.

It’s first and foremost an Australian bush animal story – about Leonard and his quest to find a pal – with a handful of references to landmarks in the Blue Mountains you may know, have visited or even live near. 

Including a mix of prose and verse, it’s playful and meaningful with a bunch of fun sounds, and it has a bit of tension towards the end with cameos from a fox and the mysterious Australian Aboriginal mythical creature: the bunyip.

Inspiration

If you’ve ever visited the Blue Mountains you’ll know it’s a pretty magical place. There wouldn’t be many destinations in the world that have so many awe-inspiring bushwalks, lookouts, canyons, waterfalls and places to explore all in a 50km radius.

But it’s not just magical for grown-ups. Just about everyone who has been raised in the Blue Mountains will tell you that growing up here affected who they became – how they think, how they experience the world. The landscape here reaches kids on a different level and influences their understanding of the world.

It makes sense, then, that there would be a children’s picture book set in the Blue Mountains, but when I tried searching for one, I couldn't find any such books in print.

As a writer and mum to two girls aged (nearly) 4 and 2, I was compelled to write a story for children that featured the animals and landscape of this beautiful place my family calls home – to help strengthen their connection to their surroundings.

And when a pair of lyrebirds made my Blue Mountains backyard their home, and I learnt about (and witnessed) the lyrebird's ability to perform pitch-perfect imitations of other bird calls and animals sounds, the story of Leonard materialised. 

The reason I'm self-publishing is because I wanted to engage a local illustrator who is as passionate about the Blue Mountains as I am (traditional publishers prefer to use their own illsutrators) and to 'keep it local' with as many of the elements of production as I can. 

About the author

My name is Jodie McLeod and I am a copywriter, journalist and editor. I am also a creative writer, an incessant dabbler in creative side projects and I am mum to a toddler and preschooler. I've completed a Bachelor of Creative Writing (Hons) at the University of Wollongong, and am thrilled to be bringing this Blue Mountains story – which has the tick of approval from my own children – to life. You can see more of my work (and side projects) here. 

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About the illustrator

Hi, I’m Eloise, and I’m an artist, textile designer and illustrator based in the Blue Mountains where I live with my family. 

I worked as a textile designer for over a decade but a few years ago after I'd had children, I started making children’s products with my illustrations on them. You can see more of my work here. 

I've wanted to illustrate a children’s book for many years, and when this project came along I loved the story and felt it was a perfect fit for my style of work. I am truly excited to be a part of it.

For me, the ingredients of a good picture book are very simple: it needs to have an original, compelling story with quality illustrations – all of which this book has.

Kids reading this story will be drawn in by the charming character of Leonard who just wants to impress his new friend, and they will be compelled by his plight and the drama that unfolds. Without necessarily being conscious of it they will also learn about the importance of being true to yourself and about the habits of one of Australia’s quirkiest birds and the perils it faces because of feral animals in the Australian bush.

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Why pledge?

We urge all parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, godparents, friends of parents and friends of people who are thinking of becoming parents – who have any kind of connection with the Blue Mountains in Australia – to make a pledge to this locally created project. Not only will this book be a souvenir of the place you visited or of the place in which you live – it will awaken your little one’s wonder at the world around them, and will take a seat alongside some of your favourite Australian bush animal stories. 

Making a pledge is also a fantastic way to tick off all your child-related Christmas and birthday presents from September 2018 onwards! You can buy multiple signed copies of the book by selecting  the amount you want when you make a pledge. There's also the option of donating copies to the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation. PLUS – everyone who pledges $25 and over will receive an invite to the very kid-friendly book launch at a yet-to-be-determined Blue Mountains location at the end of 2018. There'll be activities, book readings and fun stuff for all. 

Help us bring Leonard the Lyrebird into the world by making a pledge right now! 

The money raised through this crowdfunding campaign will be used to fund creation and publishing of the book, which includes:

• Printing
• Illustration
• Production
• Graphic design
• Editing
• Cover design
• Distribution

The wonderful thing about making a pledge is that you will receive an actual thing for your money! You’re essentially pre-purchasing a lovely, locally created product that will bring the children in your life joy for years to come. How’s that for value?! 

If for some reason it’s looking like we may not meet our target, I will downscale the amount of books in the planned initial print run to ensure the book is printed in at least some capacity. I refuse to compromise on quality of printing and stock.