When 14-year-old Kwalikum Secondary School student Teegan Walshe first submitted her drawings to Michael Redican, author of the children’s book The Amazing Adventures of Anna the Rat, little did she know that her passion would turn into philanthropy.
It all started when Walshe learned of Redican and his work while visiting her aunt on Quadra Island last summer.
She then decided to illustrate scenes from his stories as a means to develop her own artistic skill and to keep busy during the pandemic, something she has also done for other stories that piqued her interest.
Shortly after, Redican contacted Walshe and she became the illustrator for his whole book.
According to a release sent to PQB News, Redican, a retired elementary school teacher, started writing about Anna the Rat when he noticed how some early learning books weren’t holding the attention of children learning to read and wanted to write stories that would appeal to their interests and capture their imaginations.
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“I love Anna (the rat) because she’s different than the rest of the rats,” said Walshe. “She is very curious and determined and is always in the mood for adventure. And she teaches you a type of courage that anyone can portray no matter how small.”
Since she considers the opportunity to be a part of Redican’s stories as a reward itself, Walshe said she plans to donate her portion of sale proceeds to the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation.
“Reading has brought to light so many issues that mean a lot to me, like climate change, that I wish I had known about before.”
Walshe said the main reason she chose the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation was because she believes that every child should have access to books and since the foundation, in turn, donates the money to Canadian schools who need help buying books for their libraries.
The Amazing Adventures of Anna the Rat retails for $15, and can be directly purchased through snowyowlhedwig713@shaw.ca.