Our Bush Capital is the little children's book that could.
The crowd-funded children's picture book celebrating life in Canberra was published in 2020 and is now in its third print run.
Written by Samantha Tidy and illustrated by Juliette Dudley, Our Bush Capital documented a child's view of Canberra as a little girl went exploring her community, taking in everything from the Mint to the Civic merry-go-round.
Parents and children alike have embraced the book but its influence has extended far beyond what Samantha Rutter, who writes as Samantha Tidy, could have ever imagined.
The Wanniassa mum, author and teacher reinvested royalties from Our Bush Capital and her other books to create a publishing company so she could keep bringing to fruition works that celebrated community and connection.
The result is Storytorch Press which Samantha said would "publish books that unite us - books that promote resilience, sustainability and community engagement".
"I thought, 'Right let's create something with it'," she said, of the success of Our Bush Capital.
"So, Storytorch Press, in its current form, was born from the community passion that was put into Our Bush Capital.
"Once I had that framework, I was able to open up submissions to authors all around Australia and it just happens to be that a Canberra author is the first cab off the rank. Although, I do want to keep that Canberra vibe strong within the company."
That first book is The Riddle of Tanglewood Manor by award-winning Canberra author Tracey Hawkins, a former AFP police officer, mum of three and lover of crime writing. It's a funny, fast-paced tale of time travel to an era when childhood involved "less supervision and many more grazed knees - right after the end of World War I and just before another worldwide pandemic hits Australian shores".
In that sense, it fits perfectly with Storytorch's aim to bring to life more manuscripts that nurture community resilience in times of challenge, no more so than the ongoing COVID pandemic.
"I'm really pleased that she loved the story and it is going to be the first one off the press," Tracey said.
"My other publishing houses are around the world and having Sam here, close, we've been very involved together in how the book emerged. What the cover would look like. What font we would use. Sam has been very inclusive all the way, which has been great."
The ripple effect from Our Bush Capital continues. Storypress this year will publish three more books, dealing with themes including the environment, diversity and nature. And it all started with an idea and the support of the community.
"When people supported the crowdfunding, they started something. So people should be proud of that," Ms Rutter said.
Ocean Warriors: The Rise of Robo-Shark, by celebrated author Candice Lemon-Scott, released on February 1 shows an appreciation of the apex predators in the ocean ecosystem.
Two more picture books will be released in July and September, Great and Small by Alison McLennan and Connah Brecon (celebrating diversity and an all-abilities approach to inclusion) and Naturopolis by Deborah Frenkel and Ingrid Bartkowiak (encouraging young people to find nature right under their feet in the city).
- The launch of The Riddle of Tanglewood Manor by Tracey Hawkins is on Saturday at 3pm at BookCow in Kingston. Bookings via Eventbrite, with the launch also livestreamed. The link is here.
- Our Bush Capital is available from local outlets including The Markets Wanniassa.
