6 Good Picture Books To Help Introduce a Sibling
Welcoming a new baby to the family? Find a list of books to help the soon-to-be big brothers and big sisters prepare for their new role!
April 25, 2026
How to help kids Understand Food Without Lectures?
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Athlete 👉 Nurse 👉AUTHOR!
Hello, I’m Shell. I’m one of 5 kids and I grew up in Sydney, Australia. I was a good little tennis player back in the day, and played for Australia between the ages of 12 – 16. I then played college tennis on scholarship in the US where I earned a broadcast journalism degree. When I returned home, I worked as a copywriter before pivoting in a completely different direction – studying again to become a registered nurse.
Soon after becoming a nurse, my husband and I moved to the Central Coast of NSW and had 3 babies in the space of 4 years! The kiddos, freelance work in the health space, various home renovations and secretly working on publishing my first children’s book have kept me busy since!
💡Making an idea a reality
I have actually always wanted to write a children’s book! I’ve always felt there was at least one good idea in me! Now I have so many more ideas – it’s just a matter of finding the time, energy and funds to make it all happen!
‘What Does All My Food Do?’ simply and playfully introduces the concept that the FOOD we eat HELPS our BODY to FUNCTION – allowing children to keep doing what they love doing most – PLAY!
Beautifully illustrated and told through simple language, rhyme and repetition, ‘What Does All My Food Do?’ connects several common foods to relevant body organs / functions and activities, before all coming out as POO! – making it accessible and relatable for young children.
This book is a game-changer for health promotion and education in the early years, as it focuses on the POSITIVE CONNECTIONS between FOOD, BODY and PLAY!
Why I wrote a book?
I decided to write this book for 2 main reasons:
1️⃣ –I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT EARLY HEALTH PROMOTION / HEALTH LITERACY – I think health education around food and our bodies could start earlier and be executed better here in Australia. Kids tend to learn negative associations instead of positive ones, when really – the message is so simple!
Our food HELPS our body to function, so we can learn, grow and play!
THIS is the message we should be teaching our kids, especially because the first 5 years of their life are crucial in shaping their future health outcomes!
🥦🥕🍠🍅🫑🍄🟫🫛
The Early Years Strategy 2024-2025 highlights the need for setting a strong foundation for our children, emphasising clear evidence that “while every year of childhood is influential to development, the early years is when we set children up to achieve good health and wellbeing outcomes for their whole life.”
For me as someone with a good education around health (a nurse), a past life as an athlete, and doing my best to raise three daughters, I started teaching my own girls the positive and factual connections between these things – FOOD, BODY & PLAY. When I overheard my eldest daughter passing my positive messaging onto one of her friends at the park one day (see my inspiration for this book below), I knew I had to get it out there for others!
The second reason why I decided to pursue my idea for What does all my food do? is…
2️⃣ – ROLE MODEL – It sounds so cliché, but I wanted my girls to see me working on something I was truly passionate about and for them to be proud of me. I still remember putting my eldest to sleep the night after reading my book to her class at daycare her telling me, “I’m so proud people can buy your book.”
Do you have an idea for a book but not sure what to do about it?
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The inspiration behind my first book...
When my eldest daughter was 3.5 years old, I overheard her offer a friend some of her dried seaweed at the park while saying, “Try some of my seaweed, it’s good for your BRAIN!”
Whether this was factually correct or not was beside the point – I realised then that the way I had been teaching my kids about their food and their little bodies was sinking in!
I thought I’m onto something here – if I can positively shape the way my kids learn about their food and bodies, I think other parents, grandparents and teachers might want in on this too!
The push to get published
Publishing this book was the realisation of a long-term goal of being a children’s book author, which is incredible for self-esteem and actually achieving something you’ve set out to achieve! For so long I had it in my “one day” basket, but I read something that stuck with me and made me realise that…
...I was the only one who would and could make it happen - so i got a move on!
I also strongly believe that this book has the power to have a positive influence over the lives of other kids as well as their parents / grandparents/ caregivers and teachers – by helping to establish a strong foundation of health knowledge and ultimately serve to improve the health education and health literacy of the next generation. I know this may seem a little far-fetched as the result of a humble children’s picture book – but a girl can dream!
🍠Sweet Potatoes Vs Yams
One small detail I overlooked when choosing my three foods to feature on each page (associated with a body organ/body function) was that some foods are called different things in different countries. For example, in Australia, we have sweet potatoes, but in the United States, these are called yams! (I’m sorry if I confused any of my international customers!)
👩🎨 Bringing my vision to life!
I think one of my big wins was finding a brilliant illustrator who brought my vision to life! I absolutely love the vibe of my illustrations and believe they add so much to the book – colour, playfulness and personality – and hopefully keep kids’ attention!
As a perfectionist myself, I put a lot of value on the illustrations and a lot of time went into the back-and-forth between myself and my illustrator – and I’m glad!
Self-publishing and setting goals
Once I pulled the pin and decided I was actually doing it, I moved pretty quickly.
I set myself a goal of having it done BEFORE my third baby was born in May 2024 for obvious reasons…I almost made it…
I did a self-publishing course in August 2023 (Little Ivory Haus) and was reading my book for Book Week in August 2024 in front of my girls’ class at their daycare.
Having a community of other self-published authors to bounce ideas and questions off (brought together in a private Facebook group by the creator of the self-publishing course I did) has also been invaluable.
⏳ One year
My idea for the book evolved over the course of teaching my first two girls about food as they learned to eat from 6 months old. However the timeframe from my actual ‘ah-huh” moment when my eldest was 3.5 offering her friend in the park some of her seaweed because it “HELPS YOUR BRAIN,” to having the book in my hands, was about a year.
Did I learn anything new about myself on my path to becoming published?
YES – I learned that as a perfectionist with a strong fear of failure and hatred of self-promotion, I had to suck it up, back myself and just take the leap. I had to press PUBLISH and press POST, even when I didn’t want to!
I realised no one else was going to do it – so I had to!
How did it feel to [finally] hold the hard copy in my hands?
So, so cool!
When you’ve dreamed of achieving something since being a kid and then you finally do it as an adult amidst the daily life chaos of 2 x toddlers, work, moving house, renovating and being pregnant with our #3, it felt great.
To be honest, I had forgotten what it felt like to invest in myself and achieve something for ME!
The hardest thing about self-publishing was...
👎Feeling like such a tiny, tiny, tiny fish in an infinitely gigantic ocean.
The best thing about self-publishing was...
👍The achievement of knowing “I DID THIS!”
👍Also, the realisation that I’m in charge of my own achievements and that my fear of failure would have stifled what I have been able to now do, had I not gotten over it in the process!
👍Realising that there is no failure anyway – I’m a published author woo hoo!
👍Also, seeing orders come in from people I DID NOT KNOW! Wow.
Did I ever consider traditional or hybrid publishing?
Consider – yes. Attempt – no. Not with a goal of a published book with a 7-month turnaround pre-baby!
How to find my book?
What Does All My Food Do? is available for purchase on my website –newportroadpress.com.au and at a gorgeous local stockist – Plain Janes Store in Long Jetty on the Central Coast of NSW.
It is also available internationally on:
👉Amazon,
👉Barnes & Noble,
👉Booktopia
What Does All My Food Do? is in the homes and hands of many households of friends AND PEOPLE I DON’T KNOW around Australia and the world!
My book also sits in each of the rooms of my kids’ day care (and others) – which makes me so incredibly proud! (I hope to see its reach grow as I work on getting it into early learning centres and possibly schools across Australia!)
What's next for me?
I wrote my next book while sitting on the toilet when I was 3 days post-partum after baby # 3…stay tuned 👀
Next time I would love to do a board book – it would be age appropriate, something new to learn again (a new process), as well as being sturdy!
Some of my favourite book’s I’ve loved reading to my girls are board books.
To any aspiring authors...
No one else is going to do it for you! Just start!
You’ll be glad you did it!
Article & images kindly supplied by Michelle Stewart.
Shell’s book has also made it into our There’s a Book For That blog for:
🥦Books to help kids eat their veges!
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Meet Shell Stewart
Shell Stewart is mum to three girls under 5, a registered nurse, a freelance copywriter AND a former athlete! In September of 2024, she added author to this growing list after proudly self-publishing her first book titled – What Does All My Food Do?
Read her article below to find out how she did it! But first…
The Peter Rabbit books. So much so, I had a number of Beatrix Potter watercolour paintings framed around my room. I now read them to my own kids – I find them so peaceful, calming and love the florid language.
Shell's favourite book from childhood?
Shell's kids favourite picture books?
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, Magic Beach by Alison Lester and Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson.
The Indie Author Diaries
If you’re interested in sharing your self-publishing story for our Indie Author Diaries blog series, get in touch today!
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