The 9-year-old from the Bay of Plenty is one of a few selected children around the world to feature in the Harry Potter authors new book, The Ickabog.
Sienna Olsen likes to read. The 9-year-old says she can read roughly 100 books a week but now she will have a book that will forever be her favourite.
Sienna's illustration will be on bookshelves across the world this week in JK Rowling's new book, The Ickabog - and shealready has a copy with Rowling's signature.
She is one of four children in New Zealand and one of 34 across the globe to have her illustration printed.
"My mum came into the room and told me I had won, and I literally did a jig of happiness," Sienna said.
The Ickabog was released, chapter by chapter, earlier this year while the world bunkered into lockdown. Rowling, who is best known as the author of the Harry Potter franchise, then invited children from around the world to illustrate the book chapter by chapter.
JK Rowling is the mastermind behind the Harry Potter books. Photo / File
While Sienna is an avid reader, she also has been drawing since she was aged 18 months, so when the competition came up for her favourite author it ticked all the boxes. "I like JK Rowling's writing because it is full of bravery and surprises."
Sienna said Rowling's writing made her feel like anything was possible. It's something she had to remind herself as she entered the competition, originally believing she had no chance.
The character Sienna has depicted, Spittleworth, is not a nice character. Sienna says he's the reason all the bad things happen in the book. But it was a line of writing about "candlelight illuminating his long nose and cruel smile" that inspired her art.
"Lord Spittleworth and his candle just chose me for some reason. I saw a pitch-black background with a flaming candle in the middle, which lit up the villain's cruel space grinning eerily in the darkness and his oily hands holding the candle," Sienna explains.
Sienna Olsen, 9, has her illustration printed in JK Rowling's new book The Ickabog. Photo / George Novak
And that's exactly what she drew. The illustration is the only one of its kind, she said, but admits she had to do a bit of erasing every now and then to get it perfect.
"I did it with coloured pencils. It took me about five days because I also had to do my school work.
"First I sketched the main shapes, then I added the details, like the wax running down the candlestick and his narrow eyes."
Then came the shading which was the "trickiest" part, Sienna said especially because she didn't have the right colour pencil for Spittleworth's face.
It wasn't just a signed book that Sienna received for her efforts with her school, Te Akau Ki Pāpāmoa School, receiving £500 ($968) worth of books as well.
