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WHAT: Official book launch of Percy and the Blue-tailed butterfly
WHEN: Sunday, August 31, from 11.30am- 4pm
WHERE: Art Gallery of Ballarat, Lydiard Street North
LUCY Brisbane grew up listening to stories of Percy and the Blue-Tailed Butterfly.
Now she is sharing those stories with children in Ballarat.
Her father spent many nights retelling Ms Brisbane the stories of Percy, but it was only recently that she discovered a portfolio of those stories in a cupboard at their family property more than 35 years after his death.
“He told stories really well and was very expressive,” she said.
“But I never realised he was writing these. I just thought he was telling us stories.”
Amazed his stories had survived all those years, Ms Brisbane set out to publish the story of Percy and the Blue-Tailed Butterfly in honour of her father, Alan Robert Brisbane.
With most of his artworks destroyed in a studio fire, original illustrations for the story were unable to be used for the publication, but Ms Brisbane set out to recreate and bring to life the characters of the book as her father described them.
“They were really faded and discoloured, I realised they were drafts, so I’ve basically used them and changed colours and added to them,” she said.
Percy and the Blue-Tailed Butterfly follows the story of Percy the Bravest Dragon, who is sent on an adventure to find the Blue-Tailed Butterfly and save the Kings’s Kingdom.
“I’ve related it to children I know and they enjoyed the repetition and finger puppets,” Ms Brisbane said.
“It’s about children facing their fears and asking for help when you need it.”
If this book is successful, Ms Brisbane will publish the remaining stories her father wrote.
You can join Ms Brisbane at the Art Gallery of Ballarat to officially launch the book on August 31.