By Casey Neill
A Berwick grandmother’s literary gift to her grandkids is on the shelf of a Parisian library.
Jennifer Tanti couldn’t speak English until age 5 and didn’t discover reading until even later.
“Italian is my first language,” she said.
“I walked into school and had no idea what anyone was talking about.
“I didn’t discover books and reading until I was 10 or 12 because we didn’t really have books at home.
“I just loved being taken into a different place with a story. I’ve always loved the creativity of it.
“Since then I haven’t stopped reading.”
Jennifer also grew up listening to stories from her Maltese family, who migrated to Australia from Egypt in the early 1950s.
“I’ve always loved words and the sounds of words,” she said.
“We had a great teacher in Grade 6; I’ll never forget him.
“He would not only tell us the meaning of the word, but where the word came from and how it was structured and how grammar was structured.
“That was my introduction to the love of the language.”
This led to studies in linguistics, Italian, French, and Spanish, and Jennifer has worked as an interpreter, translator, and teacher.
“I’ve always had a vision to write a book,” she said.
“When my grandson, Luca, was born in 2016, I held him and said ‘I’m going to write you a book one day’.”
So she took a University of the Third Age (U3A) course in 2019.
“I wrote the draft for Chickaboo during the writing class and read it to my fellow students,” she said.
“I use language that enhances a child’s vocabulary and sounds that resonate to bring the story to life.
“The teacher said, ‘This could be something’.”
Jennifer attended a self-publishing workshop at Berwick Library and connected with Busybird Publishing’s owner.
“Because it was lockdown by then, she helped me every single step of the way, online and on the phone,” she said.
“I didn’t meet the illustrator till after the book was published because we couldn’t meet.
“Artist Nicole Eykmann created the luscious images and captured my imagination.”
Chickaboo is a story about mateship, cooperation, and care, and follows a chick by the same name on a trip outside the farm gate with his friends.
“Chickaboo is now held in Shakespeare and Co bookshop’s library in Paris,” Jennifer said.
“It’s also available in a few local Melbourne libraries.
“My readings at storytime at Berwick and Endeavour libraries were great fun for me and the children engaged happily and creatively.
“I was lucky enough to go to a grandparents’ day at my grandson’s school.
“I read it to his class, which was really lovely.”
Jennifer’s sequel, Milly, stars a millipede who lives on the same farm and adventures to the chook pen with Chickaboo.
Sharing bedtime stories with Luca, 8, and Maya, 4, inspired the books.
“I created this character and we took him on an adventure every night,” she said.
“We’re going on a journey together. The three of us in the bed reading the same story will have three different spins on it, which is really wonderful.”
A tiny dove wearing a scarf is peppered throughout Chickaboo.
“When I was writing it I was living in a rental and looked after my grandson quite a lot,” she said.
“We had a pair of doves that used to visit all the time.
“He said, ‘Grandma, it looks as though it’s wearing a spotty scarf’.”
Gumnuts also feature throughout as a nod to Maya.
“The very first intelligible word she said to me was gumnuts, so I call her my little gumnut,” Jennnifer said.
“Milly wears a pink bow in her hair and she loves her shoes. They’re based on my granddaughter’s shoes.”
Jennifer made up bedtime stories with her own children, dating back to 1984 when her son was born.
“It was a time for us to stop because days were always filled with school activities,” she said.
“By the time they got to bed, we’d all collapse.
“It was a time to be. It was a good winding down as well for them.
“We didn’t have screens, we didn’t have all this noise around us; it was just quiet.”
A novel for adults could be next on the cards for Jennifer.
“I’ve started writing drafts,” she said.
“I wouldn’t mind doing another children’s one but we’ll see how we go.
“I’ve got people hammering me to write a sequel, but self-publishing is not cheap.
“I live on my own, I’m on a pension. I don’t have bucketloads of money to pour into it.”
