Author grabs inspiration from afar
The Brunswick News
October 30, 2004
By Chris Brennaman
Patsy Roberts first decided to write and illustrate her own children's books after seeing children react to animals.
"I like it when I see a child's face after they've seen a picture I've taken light up," she said. "Even little children who can't even say 'mama' or 'dada,' yet (they) can roar."
Roberts has lived on St. Simons Island for 35 years. Most of that time was spent as a housewife. But a trip to Africa several years ago turned her on to a new passion, one that would see her life entwined with the continent to this day.
"I don't remember why I first went," she said. "I just went one year, and now I've been 17 times. I go once a year, sometimes twice."
She goes armed with a camera and takes pictures of the wildlife. For years, she kept the photographs to herself, but has since used them to illustrate children's books about the animals she's come to love.
"I've just finished my second book," she said. "It's called 'Kabelo,' and it's about a baby giraffe."
She has no formal training as a photographer or as a children's book writer, but she's gotten acclaim and popularity for both.
"I speak at schools and libraries," she said. "My pictures have been shown in exhibits. It's quite amazing."
Her books, like many children's books, are used to teach lessons. Like her next book, "Willis the Warthog."
"It's about how each one of us is unique, but special," she said. "The kind of things that kids need to hear about. They've become quite successful. Teachers will buy them for their classrooms. Parents and grandparents will buy them at art shows."
But it hasn't been easy for the writer. When she first started taking pictures, she would give them away to friends. Then one day, someone told her to sell them. It was a prospect that was daunting for Roberts, to say the least.
"I was so scared," she said. "I didn't know if anyone would want them. I had an exhibit and a lot of people came. I was so happy."
She spends most of her time in Africa in a village in Botswana. Many of the villagers make it into her books, something that causes quite a stir among the locals.
"A lot of these people have never seen a picture of themselves," she said. "Many don't even own mirrors. It's something else for them to see themselves in a book."
Right now, she's saving money to give back to the land that has given her so much. Education is a rare thing in the village she spends most of her time in, and she wants them all to have it.
"In Botswana, if your village has less than 500 people, the government won't send a teacher," she said. "Kids have to go to a boarding school. So I want to get enough funding to get them a tutor."