When it came time for Sunshine-based child behaviour expert Chrissie Davies to develop her debut children’s storybook, she knew to look no further than Melbourne’s inner-west for help.
For the past fourteen years, Chrissie, mum of two and western suburbs resident, has been a stalwart for the community. Alongside her main business, Chaos to Calm Consultancy, where she teaches parents and carers how to connect with their children, Chrissie also runs the Inner-West Biz Hub, a resource for local small business owners seeking affordable quality training, networking, and support.
‘Through the Biz Hub, I’ve met so many talented people, including those who helped me bring my picture book to life.’ Chrissie said.
Chrissie is a passionate advocate for local small businesses ‘I knew I’d find the help I needed on my doorstep.’ Chrissie said. ‘We’re surrounded by incredible talent in the west, and I knew to ask locals to join me in launching this incredible book.’
Love Your Brain follows the gorgeous character Little Brainiac (illustrated by Yarraville artist Lou Pennisi), as she teaches kids how to look after their brains.
While Lou and Chrissie developed the characters together, Chrissie sought the expertise of West Footscray based writer and editor Donita Richards (Mighty Writing Co) to help solidify the book’s message. She looked to Yarraville local Simone Redman-Jones (Shebang Agency) for help with PR and marketing, and Sunshine photographer Janet Palmer (Hyggelig Photography) to capture the essence of Love Your Brain and what it means to the community.
Wanting more than a two-dimensional character, Chrissie has also collaborated with St Albans based musical artist Damien Peck (Damo’s Music) to create a song that adds more life to the story.
Teaching parents and caregivers the intricacies of how brains work is an essential part of Chrissie’s methodology. She believes that if children understand how their emotions affect their behaviour, they can learn to respond more positively to these feelings. ‘Then they (children) start to understand themselves better, which leads to self-compassion – and this is very important.’ Chrissie said.
Love Your Brain is due for release later this month and Chrissie hopes to be presenting her story at local schools and libraries so families of the inner-west can become part of her book journey too.
