ONE grandmother, a former Serviceton and Nhill resident, was struggling to connect with her only grandchildren.
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Maree Schaefer's grandchildren, aged between 7 and 14, were in Germany and could only connect via online chats. She could see how they were struggling more and more being inside during lockdown and homeschooling.
Despite never being a writer and leaving school at 14, she put words to paper and wrote stories about native wildlife to help out those who needed her most.
Mrs Schaefer, nee Grosser, as a young girl, was educated at the Kaniva school and then as a young woman, worked at the Nhill Post Office.
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Mrs Schaefer's, 74 years old, said not only had the stories engaged her grandchildren during their online sessions but were helping improve their English skills.
"We were trying to babysit over the internet," she joked.
"We tried to find books, we weren't really happy with that we could find. I thought why don't I write my won stories.
"It helps them with their English, if they didn't understand a word, we'd stop and discuss the word."
Her first story she wrote at the beginning of COVID-19 in early 2020 and just kept writing stories.
Mrs Schaefer said friends asked for copies of her stories for their own grandchildren and she has now sold or given away over 150 copies.
"I share the stories around with my friends quite a bit," she said.
"People at my bowling club told me they liked them and asked if they could buy them for their own grandchildren."
The stories have been sent around Australia and even to Canada.
She had a variety of stories, one of her granddaughters favourites is Murray Magpie. Her granddaughter wasn't feeling well one day and specifically requested for her grandmother to read this story to her.
Mrs Schaefer and her husband, Brian, used photoshop to put photos of their grandchildren into the stories illustrations and images of Australian wildlife.
"It has been quite a bonding experience," she said.
Mrs Schaefer said her own favourites are Toby's Adventure with the Pelicans features Pelicans, Kangaroos, emus, goanna, and wedge-tailed eagle and one about a tree frog called Molly and her Pet Green Tree Frog.
The stories are also inspired by Mrs Schaefer's own childhood.
Her next story is called Big Red the Ruthless Pirate.
For a copy of one of Mrs Schaefer's children's stories, email: bmsch47@gmail.com
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