Aidan Curtis
A MOUNT Gambier/Berrin student is on cloud nine after a book she wrote for school children sold out within three weeks.
Grant High School student Jazmin wrote a book on red-tailed black cockatoos as a way to share her passion for the iconic bird and conservation with students in the region.
Jazmin said she initially intended to distribute books to schools in the region, but was really happy to see interest from a wider group of people.
“It was aimed at schoolkids, so I’ve tried to keep it to the bare minimum so they have some understanding of where I’m coming from,” she said.
“It just came out and it basically sold out within three weeks – I sold 50 copies.
“I think I have to get 30 more printed to go to schools.”
She said she did not realise how well the book was selling until her brother turned up asking why the copy he had ordered was running so late.
“I never actually knew he ordered one until he came knocking on the door,” she said.
“I went into the bag and had all these books packaged up to go to the schools and realised I don’t have any.
“I had to take a school one.”
Jazmin was surprised to find it was not just family and schools that were interested in the book.
“I think people wanted to buy it because they were supporting local,” she said.
“I’ve got people from all these volunteering things I’ve been doing, adults in nature conservation so they bought it to show their bosses the work I’ve done as a young person.
“It was really cool to see people have a passion in the same things I do.”
She said she has gotten some good feedback on the book so far, with people often eager to share their favourite facts about red-tailed black cockatoos after reading it.
“Everyone keeps saying wow, it’s left footed,” she said.
“But I think the coolest fact about them is, for the Boandik people, it was a totem but it was also a bird that told them rain was on the way.”
While Jazmin spends a lot of time juggling school responsibilities with volunteering and her roles on various student committees, she said she has not ruled out writing another book.
“I’m hoping to get into an exchange program that I possibly will be doing in Year 12 and I’m hoping to go to Canada,” she said.
“They’ve got a big diversity of birds, so I don’t know if I want to do a book if I end up going overseas for studies or maybe creating one again this year on another endangered species.”