Trucking with CJ’s Casuarina Smith has released a new kids’ book aimed at inspiring children’s curiosity and helping to get them interested in a future career in trucking.
Released last week, ‘Is that my aunty?’ was a passion project for CJ. It’s been entirely self-funded and has been over a year in the making.
“Kids are often fascinated by trucks, whether they have family involved in the industry or not, so I wanted the book to be educational. I wanted to create something that showed the various trucks we all see in everyday life, showing what all these trucks and their drivers actually do,” said CJ.
The book was inspired by CJ’s young niece and nephew, who often ask questions about her truck and what she does.
“I hope the book gets kids thinking more about trucks. It covers 11 different types of trucks and we’ve made sure to include all of the little things. It is very cartoony, but it’s also realistic – so the driver in the fuel truck has her safety glasses on, the oversize truck has all the right placards on it, and the trucks all have the right number of axles,” continued CJ.
“I wanted my book to be inclusive too, where every truck driver looks different. I hope that all the kids who read it will see themselves in there and know that the industry is a place that they can fit right into.”
The book’s illustrations were completed by artist Aaron Lodder from Gympie, Queensland. As CJ explained, “For this book, I wanted to keep everything in Australia. I came across Aaron a while ago and he did some merch for me, so when I approached him about the book, we were able to work on the illustrations together.
“It’s amazing to have found an illustrator who could fulfil my vision. Since its launch, the feedback for the book has been awesome, so I feel like it’s all been worthwhile.
“Each of the characters are based on people in my community. For example, the little boy and little girl are based on my niece and nephew, and their mother is based on my sister, who was also a truck driver and now runs a concrete plant.
“Often, little kids don’t have a huge attention span, so I wanted to make sure the book was bright and interactive to keep them engaged, that’s why I’ve also kept it simple.”
With so many kids being fascinated by trucks, CJ says the book gives parents a resource to help show their children the various roles of truck drivers. “A lot of my friends aren’t in the industry and they have kids who are truck obsessed. So they’ll often come to me for answers to questions they don’t know. Kids are so curious and also so innocent. It’s great to see the excitement kids have for trucks.”
While the final wheels were in motion for the release of ‘Is that my aunty?’, CJ launched her children’s YouTube channel two months ago, called Trucking with CJ Kids.
“The kids’ channel was launched while the book was being printed. “The plan is to make it educational for kids too and I’m always open to ideas. I want to make it something that parents are happy for their kids to watch too,” added CJ.
“I’ve also started getting parents asking me questions, so I’m planning on making episodes to answer some of those questions.
“The future is the kids. I’m not here to change the industry but this is my way of letting kids know that trucking could be a good career for them one day.”
‘Is that my aunty?’ is available via truckingwithcj.com.