Abnormally fat

Lorraine de Kleuver with her new book at Lakes Guthridge and Guyatt. Photos: Stefan Bradley Book launched

Stefan Bradley

LORRAINE de Kleuver, from Sale, has embraced her inner child by writing and illustrating imaginative stories. Her new children’s picture book, The Professor and the Smelly Green Goop, is based on a friendly goose who resides at the local lakes, and is out now. Mrs de Kleuver, a retired nurse, has written and illustrated nine children’s picture books, and is passionate about sharing the beauty of her local surroundings with her readers. The main character of her new book, Professor Grey Goose, is a Toulouse, a French goose breed that is invasive to Australia. This particular goose has made himself at home with the other birds at Lake Guthridge and Lake Guyatt in Sale. “He’s adopted the other ducklings,” Mrs de Kleuver said. Mrs de Kleuver didn’t know much about birds when the idea for the book originally came to hand. “I contacted the bird watch people and on the phone they were really disappointed,” Mrs de Kleuver said. They weren’t happy that the book was about a bird that wasn’t native to Australia. “I really liked the look of the (Toulouse) and the size of them,” she said. “When I was walking around, I noticed the parks have got the signs about not feeding the birds (bread), but you still see packets of muffins with berries in them, cake and obviously bread that’s been left there. “It came into my head that I could do a story. I thought that he was so ‘professor-looking’. He was so ‘professor-like’, so I came up with that easily.” Mrs de Kleuver said the book, which is recommended for ages four to nine, is a quirky look at the problem of humans feeding birds bread, which offers them nutrition. “People can be proactive by getting bird seed (to feed them instead),” she said. “Another part of the story is the smell of the algae. In the beginning of this year, the whole of the Gippsland Lakes were affected by the algae. I’ve come across algae smells (before), but it was really, really strong. I actually felt nauseous because of the thickness of the smell. “So I thought, comically, I’ll get the professor to investigate the smell. The story is about him and his companions, Gwendolyn and Gertrude, finding out what it is, and where it is, and what they can do about it.” Ms de Kleuver’s self-published book, The Professor and the Smelly Green Goop, can be purchased at Sale Produce Market at Sale Showgrounds on the third Saturday of each month. It’s also available at Mrs de Kleuver’s website: cuddleschildrensbooks.com.au “My intention is to not conquer the world, I’m quite happy doing local stories. I do it with my husband, it’s something for him to do. He looks after the back end, like liaising with the printers, which is a feat in itself.”