Successful children’s author Phil Kettle has found himself living back in Sunraysia after decades of travelling the globe and living in the city. The TOOCOOL, BOYZ RULE, GIRLZ ROCK and MARCY author shared with Caitlyn Morgan how his hometown inspired many of his published books. Picture: Carmel Zaccone
What has brought you back to Sunraysia?
My family and Mildura has always been home to me. My sister has done an amazing job looking after my parents.
I still have lots of friends here and I always go to the same place for coffee.
Who are the inspirations behind your 184 published children’s books?
I have used all of my children’s names and my grandchildren’s names are now making their way into them.
My dog Lola has also got a series named after her. For the love of Lola is expected to be printed by March 2019.
How did growing up in Cardross influence your creativity?
As children growing up in this area, we had an amazing life, which is something I always reflect on.
It’s a different world that children live in now. It was my teacher Bob Witham that inspired me to write from an early age.
Apart from playing AFL or becoming a Test cricketer, becoming an author was the dream.
How did that dream become a reality?
It was by pure luck. At the time I was working at a school and had written a couple of books with the character TooCool for multiple students to encourage them to read. One of those students took one of the books home and his dad happened to work at Scholastic.
It was about 20 years ago that things really took off, when Paul Jennings discussed the books on a 60 Minutes segment about getting boys to read.
You couldn’t print the books fast enough. I didn’t know him at the time but he has since become a mentor.
You are often travelling overseas and to various schools across Australia spreading your knowledge, what do you hope they take away from your visit?
I hope to establish and improve literacy skills in schools by teaching them how to develop storylines and getting boys interested in reading.
Everyone has a story to tell, they just need to add a dose of imagination.
What do you have planned next?
Currently I am working on a coffee table book with former mayor Glenn Milne.
We grew up together and he is an amazing photographer so we want to put together his photos with different short stories from locals.
The book will be an opportunity for people to write about the past and leave behind a legacy. I also have a new series Outback Clancy ready to hit the shelves next year.
