SUNSHINE COAST AUTHOR RELEASES INSPIRATIONAL COLOURING BOOK FOR GIRLS TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

A talented Sunshine Coast author has released a children’s colouring book to inspire little girls to set their sights on ambitious careers, to celebrate International Women’s Day on Friday the 8th of March.

Hayley Camille’s premium colouring book, created for children aged 4-9 years old, features fifty captivating illustrations of diverse women in empowered professions that celebrate courage, intelligence, and limitless possibilities. Women of diverse cultural backgrounds, ages and abilities are featured.

With a focus on STEAM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), as well as including Entrepreneurship, Business and Professional Sports, girls are encouraged to think outside of traditional working roles, embrace new technologies and care for the environment.

Fun, age-appropriate descriptions of each job and what each woman does at work are featured below the illustrations, to help young girls learn about some of the amazing careers and future opportunities they can explore beyond their school years.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” said Ms. Camille. “What began as a personal project to create inspiring colouring pages for my own five-year-old daughter, quickly expanded into a full book. I wanted to offer her some alternatives to the cute fairies and cartoon characters she usually colours and instead, include inspiring images of strong women working in traditionally male-dominated and high-powered professions. My daughter absolutely loves them, and each time she colours a new page, she decides that picture will be her future profession. So far this week, she’s going to be a CFO, a meteorologist, a surgeon, the Prime Minister and a robotics engineer – I can’t keep up! She’s learning, but she’s having so much creative fun doing it. It’s such a joy to see her ambitions expand as she plays.”

Though Hayley Camille has previously published adult adventure and crime fiction, this is her first foray into children’s colouring books. Her historical crime series, Lady Vigilante, has won multiple International and Australian awards including the Sisters in Crime ‘Scarlett Stiletto Award’ for best Thriller for her prequel novella, with the prize sponsored by HQ Fiction, an imprint of HarperCollins.

“Strong female protagonists are always at the center of my books, so a colouring book for ambitious girls featuring inspiring women, was a natural extension for me into creating something unique for children. As a mother of two boys and a girl, I’ve often found their creative play provides the perfect opportunity for children to explore big ideas and ignite their imaginations. For a little girl to see women in professions most visibly held by men – it illuminates new possibilities for them. It empowers girls to see themselves in these roles.”
I Can Be Anything: A Colouring Book for Ambitious Girls launches this week, to celebrate International Women’s Day.