Taranaki teenagers write book for Young Enterprise business scheme

Stratford High School students Alivia Kells and Hannah Geater, both 16, have written and illustrated a children's book.

Two Stratford High School students have created a children’s book to teach positive messages.

Alivia Kells and Hannah Geater, both 16, have written and illustrated Chip Takes Flight, a story about a bird learning to fly.

The classmates entered this year’s Young Enterprise Scheme, a regional competition where students start and run a business. They decided to write a book and formed their business HanAlivia Creations to create, and sell it.

“It’s been a whole lot of fun. We brainstormed a lot of ideas and then decided on writing a book. When we knew that’s what we wanted to do, we spent more time coming up with a story and decided on a young bird learning to fly.”

Hannah said she and Alivia wrote the story to encourage kids to be resilient and persevere when things get tough.

“We feel that those are two key important things to learn.”

The creative duo practised what they preach, as they persevered with the idea, writing several drafts before they were happy with the final product.

“We started with just the words and then we both illustrated them. I’d say the process from the first draft to the prototype took about six weeks,” said Hannah.

To make sure kids loved the story, she and Alivia visited local schools to read it to pupils.

“We went to St Joseph’s School Stratford with the prototype and showed them it. We wanted to make sure we had created an engaging story. A few weeks later, we visited Stratford Primary School and read the story to them. It was cool to visit those schools and see the pupils engage and love the story.”

Alivia said she’s always enjoyed writing.

“It’s always been a big passion of mine and to publish our very own book is extremely exciting, to say the least.”

She said coming up with the idea for the book took some time.

“It was slow going at first but once we got the ball rolling it got easier as we went. It was definitely a fun experience going through the process of coming up with an idea.”

Hannah said the book officially launches on April 28.

“We were both super excited for this. Having a published book is pretty awesome.”

Hannah said she and Alivia have more ideas they’re working on.

“We’re excited to show people what we come up with but for now, watch this space.”

The Details:

What: Chip Takes Flight book launch

When: Sunday, April 28, noon-1pm

Where: Stratford High School hall, Swansea Rd

Cost: $18 at the launch and then $20

To order a copy of Chip Takes Flight, email HannAlivia.Creations@outlook.com