Dachshund adventures inspire children’s book

A Townsville speech pathologist has turned her love for language and rural roots into a fun kids’ book, starring her dachshund Winston on a globetrotting, learning-packed adventure.

Townsviille speech pathologist Renee Hudson with her literacy inspiration, pet dachshund, Winston

Inspired by her rural upbringing and a desire to promote childhood language development, speech pathologist Renee Hudson used her downtime during Tropical Cyclone Kirrily to write her first children’s book.

With her miniature dachshund Winston as the story’s protagonist, “Where in the World is Winston?” follows the sausage dog on his adventures with the reader encouraged to solve the mystery of his whereabouts.

“I grew up in Home Hill, in the Burdekin region, and went to a very small school. We had limited access to a lot of subjects and geography was something that we had to do via distance education,” Ms Hudson said.

“I wanted to create something that focused on teaching children about different geographical locations around the world and I’ve used different aspects of language acquisition and development, like rhyming and repetition in conjunction with colourful illustrations to keep children engaged.

“The book is designed to be a series so the possibilities of where Winston may go are endless!”

Currently acting in the role of assistant director speech pathology at Townsville University Hospital (TUH), Ms Hudson has had an extensive career that has seen her work with adult and paediatric patients.

Renee Hudson, who is a speech pathologist, has authored her first book “Where in the World is Winston?”

“Throughout my career, I’ve gained experience working across neonatal, paediatric and adult patient populations varying in presentation and complexity, but I’ve always maintained a love of language development and learning,” she said.

“While I’m not working directly with children in my current role, my hope is that the book becomes a valuable resource for speech pathologists, parents, caregivers and early educators.

“Everybody loves sausage dogs, so the story is based on Winston and he has the best little personality, he’s very adventurous and curious which makes for a great main character.”

Ms Hudson said the plot came to her quite easily, however as a first-time author with no prior publishing experience, a lot of time was spent researching how to bring her vision to life.

“Given my background in speech pathology, I understand the importance of reading to children and the evidence surrounding this. The actual production of the book required a little more research,” she said.

“It’s a process I had no prior knowledge of (engaging a publisher), which was challenging. With further research, I found out it’s something you can produce yourself through Amazon Direct Publishing.

Renee Hudson works at the Townsville University Hospital as a speech pathologist

“I also used an app called Fiverr and commissioned an illustrator to bring my vision to life.

“I wanted to get the illustrations right as they are an important component.

“Younger children may not have the attention span to sit there and listen to an entire story, but they might look at the pictures and become engaged.

“Parents and caregivers can use language to accompany the pictures which leads to language exposure and continues to promote language development.”

Ms Hudson has been overwhelmed by the support for her first foray into literature.

“I’ve had lots of great feedback that children are enjoying the book and they’re able to read it independently,” she said.

Townsville Hospital and Health Service executive director allied health Danielle Hornsby said she was delighted to see the book had become a hit.

“Just when you think you couldn’t be prouder of the allied health family, along comes Renee and does this,” Ms Hornsby said.

“I can’t wait to see where Winston ends up in the next edition.”

Renee Hudson and Winton (Speechie who has authored a book)

Ms Hudson’s book is also being used as a resource for clinicians to use as part of treatment by her colleagues at TUH.

“I’ve donated a copy to the speech pathology department and the TUH children’s ward,” Renee said.

“It was pleasing to hear that our team is using it as a resource that they can incorporate into their sessions.

“There was recently a young patient admitted to the hospital, awaiting a quite complex surgery.

During that time, the speech pathologists used the book as part of their treatment toolkit to continue the promotion of their development milestones.”

Ms Hornsby also said clinicians like Renee were an asset to TUH and the wider community.

“It doesn’t surprise me Renee is now delighting children and their parents with her children’s literature, because she has always delighted her patients and those who work around her.”

Renee’s book can be ordered directly through her website whereintheworldiswinston.com.au

Originally published as Dachshund adventures inspire children’s book