Northern Beaches celebrated children’s author Nat Amoore took time out of her busy schedule to come to meet with country children visiting Manly-based children’s charity Royal Far West for an action-packed and fun-filled session to celebrate this year’s Book Week.
CEO of Royal Far West Jaqueline Emery says “I was very excited when I heard that we had a children’s author from the Northern Beaches coming to meet our country kids. I can’t thank Nat enough for inspiring these kids and letting them believe in the power of storytelling. Country kids from regional and remote Australia don’t get opportunities to meet writers and artists, so it was incredibly generous of Nat to give up her time for the kids visiting Royal Far West this week.”
Jacqueline goes on to say “In rural Australia, families are grappling with a distressing challenge of trying to get paediatric appointments for their children. The situation is dire when considering the increased complexity of children’s needs, compounded by the statewide shortage of paediatric appointments. It’s worrying enough if your child needs developmental support, but then to be told it could be 3 to 4 years on a waitlist for your child to access support for issues ranging from speech pathology, OT or a diagnosis of ADHD or Autism is devastating for families and simply not acceptable”.
The gap between city and country kids is widening, and country kids are being left behind. Where you live should not be a barrier to access services or a cause for disadvantage. But the reality is that kids living in rural and remote communities are more likely to start school developmentally vulnerable compared to kids growing up in the city. Children and their families travel to Royal Far West in Manly for a week-long stay, during which they have access to a multidisciplinary team that includes paediatrics, psychiatry, speech pathology, Occupational therapy, and other disciplines.
Royal Far West is delighted to provide this opportunity for the kids visiting during book week. Nat Amoore commented “As a kid growing up on a small farm, we never had an author visit our school. So I never imagined I could be one. How cool is it that I can now show kids that anyone can become an author? Even me!” 12-year-old Millie* said ‘Nat was so funny. I loved her stories about her and her brother – she kept me guessing all the time and it really made me think about how I can tell stories – I think I might be a writer when I’m older!’
Nat was so funny. I loved her stories about her and her brother – she kept me guessing all the time and it really made me think about how I can tell stories – I think I might be a writer when I’m older!”
Millie*
Nat Amoore is a Sydney-based writer who is passionate about encouraging kids to read and write and explore their imagination without boundaries. Her first middle grade novel Secrets Of A Schoolyard Millionaire came out in 2019 with Penguin Random House. It had great success as both Dymocks and QBD’s ‘Kids Book Of The Month’, becoming Australia’s #1 bestselling debut Aussie children’s fiction in 2019. It has now been sold into the UK, US, Italy, China, Estonia and Romania. Her second book The Power Of Positive Pranking came out in June 2020 and was shortlisted for the 2021 Readings Children’s Book Prize, and REAL Children’s Choice Book Awards. It went on to win the 2021 Environment Award for Children’s Literature.
