Sheep farmer Suzanne Lewis has just published her first children’s book and had no further to look for something to write about than her own front paddock.
“Queenie the Quad Lady” is the story of a remarkable ewe that captured Suzanne’s heart after giving birth to four lambs and successfully raising them all despite all the trials and tribulations a sheep can face.
“She was just a great mother and that was something that really resonated with me,” Suzanne said.
“Usually with multiple births I may need to take one or even two of the lambs into the nursery to take the pressure of the ewe but every time I went to check on Queenie she had the job completely in hand.
“Everything that happens to Queenie in the book actually took place so my heart was in my mouth for most of that winter and spring.”
Suzanne teamed up with illustrator Emma Elligate to produce the book, which was launched at an on-farm event on Sunday.
Suzanne and husband Evan practise ethical lamb production, with their “calm your farm” model sitting alongside a sustainable cropping production system, providing valuable nutritional benefits for their stock that, among other things, contributes to high fertility rates.
While the title of “children’s author” is a bit of a surprise career progression for Suzanne, who manages the sheep operation and farm-gate lamb sales on their property at Werneth, Victoria, full-time, she enjoyed the process so much she says there could be further projects in the future.
“The good thing is you don’t have to make anything up when you live on a farm – there’s plenty of material for a whole series of books down the track.”
Queenie the Quad Lady was published independently and is available for $20 (plus postage) directly from the author, email suzanne.lewis68@icloud.com or via social media sites at Facebook and Instagram @calm_your_farm_ethical_lamb
This article appeared on The Regional on 28 November 2022.
Stories on The Regional’s website are free to read and always will be.
If you enjoyed this article you can show your support by joining our mailing list
(either by filling out the form on our Home page or sending us an email or message).
We’d also get very excited if you put a “like” on our Facebook page.
