By Jena Carr
A Belmont grandfather has released his first kid’s book with his daughter, highlighting family life’s fun and messy moments.
Russell Anderson wrote Dad Said, which tells the story of a father baking a cake with his children for their mum and features illustrations by the author’s daughter, Christine Christodoulou.
Mr Anderson said the idea for the book came “out of the blue” while he was playing with his grandkids.
“I ended up writing a few rhyming stories centred around a dad who is really hands on and involved with the kids,” he said.
“This story is about dad engaging with the kids to make a birthday cake for mum. They’ve never done anything like this, resulting in quite a messy kitchen.”
Mr Anderson said the book took three years to finish and that it had “been amazing” to spend quality time with his daughter.
“It meant that we spent some intentional time together pulling it all together, and Christine did it in amongst obviously being a mum and having other job commitments,” he said.
“We really enjoyed working together and we involved the grandkids a little bit on the way. They got to look at the pictures and illustrations and have their input, so it was quite exciting.”
Mr Anderson said that he was working on the second book of the Dad Said series and that kids reading the book should watch for a possum hidden on every page.
A Christmas deal is available for Greater Geelong residents to get the Dad Said book delivered to their home for $11.50 compared to the $16.95 recommended retail price.
People can email Mr Anderson at dad.said.books@gmail.com if they would like to access the discounted price.
