Well, it’s been a long wait but finally I can say I’m a picture book author! Over or Under? is a love letter to Australian beaches and all the kids who learn to swim there each year – through our amazing SLSC Nippers programs or with their families.
I roughly sketched out a first draft in Singapore on paper and then another version on my phone notes at North Curl Curl Beach in Sydney after I’d had a swim in the ocean with my daughter. She’d been dumped by a wave in rough conditions and was shaken by the experience. Her reaction reminded me that kids need so much courage and resilience to brave Australia’s unpredictable surf conditions.
I’d also been hearing young swimmers shout ‘over!’ and ‘under!’ that day; a common cry used to decide when to duck dive under a wave or float over the top of it. As an experienced ocean swimmer myself, I felt uniquely placed to tell this story authentically.
I sent the original sea-salty draft to my publisher Jeanmarie at Hachette. It’s about a girl called Maisie learning about swimming in the ocean with her father, but she must overcome being dumped by a wave for the first time. Haven’t we all had a wipe out that shook our confidence?
The story is very Australian but also universal in themes – it’s about trying new things, resilience and courage. I like to imagine that Maisie goes on to become a strong ocean swimmer or surfer and it’s that special, triumphant day on the beach that ignites a lifetime of connection to the coast.
And how beautiful are the illustrations? I couldn’t have imagined a better pairing for the text than acclaimed New Zealand illustrator Hilary Jean Tapper, whose whimsical, gentle watercolour artworks add so much to the story and evoke an Australian summer at the coast so beautifully.
