Somehow, I Ended Up Writing A Kids Book
In an unexpected turn of events, I, Benedict Kennedy-Cox, comedy writer, self-styled travel presenter, professional beer taster and constant misspeller of words, am now a published author.
Written in collaboration with Scouts Australia and Australian Geographic, I wrote Scouts Ultimate Activity Guide, a book full of 100s of activities, games, DIYs, experiments, recipes and facts to inspire Aussie kids aged 5-12.
Feels just a bit surreal.
Seeing this book published is equal parts childhood dream and bucket list goal for me and not just because I love the Australian Geographic stores as a kid (may they rest in peace). As a kid I loved books that had suggestions for activities that would get me doing something fun in the school holidays hours where Ripley’s Believe It Or Not wasn’t on TV. I loved The Dangerous Book For Boys, Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book, my mum’s old Childcraft Library and a host of other nature, science, cooking and craft activity guides that I loved until they were in tatters.
To be able to be the author on a guide that could inspire the new generation of kids like me (constantly distracted but somehow bookish) is beyond heart warming. Since Scouts Ultimate Activity Guide has been published I’ve learnt people I know have already bought copies for their kids and students, making my heart grow at a rate usually seen only in Grinches on Christmas.
Hear is a pretty typical example of the sorts of activities in this book, this particular spread being from the Adventures chapter.
So why does this book exist and why did I write it with Australian Geographic and Scouts Australia?
Australian Geographic are professional publishers, usually publishing one book a month and on some years they have almost published one a week, many of the books aimed towards children, educating them about nature and outdoors.
Due to having such a well-oiled kids book production line, Scouts Australia contacted Australia Geographic for assistance writing a book featuring activities for kids with the idea that it would inspire kids to get involved in their local scouting troupe as well as being a useful resource for current scouts.
Other sections of the book feature profiles on notable former Scouts, history and nature facts or more in-depth features such as this Map Making guide, also in the Adventure chapter.
In 2022, I was working full time as a travel writer at AWOL, owned by Northern Pictures, the company that makes Love On The Spectrum but also publishes Australian Geographic. A member of Australian Geographic publishing asked if I could step in to write this book when their in-house writer left. Although I already had a full work schedule I took the job on, worked weekends, got made redundant at AWOL and ended up finishing the job as a freelance writer. Scouts Australia, Australian Geographic and freelance designer Christine Schiedel, were great to work with, clear communicators full of ideas, feedback and encouragement that made my job as a first time author pain-free and exciting.
If you buy Scouts Ultimate Activity Guide for kids (or you are a kid who is on this website that’s mostly about beer travel) you can expect kids who read it to end up learning a lot about nature, history and interesting people as well a couple of corny jokes thrown in for good measure. Hopefully, they will want to try lots of the activities in the guide, attempt something new, be inspired to make something special and do things their way. (There’s also constant reminders to clean up after yourself because I know my mum would have appreciated that.)
Because both of the companies making this book have Australia in the name, and because a lot of the books I had as a kid were written for American kids, there is a big local focus in this book such as in this page about places to swim in Australia in the Splashtastic chapter.
Henceforth, I give full permission for any child who gets a copy of this book to write their own notes inside, scrawl ideas in the margins, dog ear their favourite pages, break the spine in their backpack, water damage, paint splash, stain, ruin and otherwise adore this book to pieces.
Happy reading,
Benny
PS - You can buy it here!
PPS - Spoke to some higher ups at Australian Geographic and they said there is still no way the Australian Geographic shops are coming back, even as a pop-up store. Worth asking though.
