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Title : Guest Post: Robyn Osborne on Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush
link : Guest Post: Robyn Osborne on Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush
Guest Post: Robyn Osborne on Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush
Robyn Osborne not only has an affinity for the bush but also all things canine. Her latest picture book combines a love of both with the most hilarious results that beg to be read aloud over and over again, preferably with the most ocker accent you can. You can read our KBR review, here.Today, Robyn shares her inspiration behind this rollicking tale.
Like many of my previous books and short stories, my latest picture book, Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush - was inspired by my pets, past and present.
My love of animals came from my parents and I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have pets in our life. We had many four-legged furry friends that have enriched our lives; dogs, cats, mice, goats (lots of them), cows, a pig (not strictly furry, I know) and various poultry.
The vast majority of these were strays, orphans, unwanted pets or animals from the pound. We adopted some very appreciative ex-battery hens and even saved a sheep and her lamb from the abattoir. At 11, I made the connection between animals and the meat on the plate and turned vegetarian (which I still am today).
Of all our animals, dogs were probably the favourites, which is why a lot of my writing has a canine theme. My very first published story, The Heartworm War (Smarter than Jack 2) was about Bluey, a canny cattle dog I owned as a kid. He was also the inspiration for a short story, The Workin’ Dog (The Bridge anthology).
Socks and Snow were my two wonderful rescue dogs I had in later years. Proving that dogs from the wrong side of the pound can achieve greatness, Socks went on to literary fame as the co-pawthor of my second book, Dog Logic :a pooch’s guide to dogs behaving badly (his photo proudly adorns the back cover of the book). As ‘The Philosophical Pooch’, he penned a column in Dogs Life magazine for a number of years and still has his own Facebook Page. A very clever canine indeed! Unsurprisingly, my picture book My Dog Socks was based on him. Not to be outdone, Snowy (our other literary hound) penned her memoirs in the quirky Midget Bones’ Diary.
A number of years ago I read an article by Phillip Adams, where he bemoaned the demise of the colloquial language of the bush and the increasing urbanisation of Australia. As someone who had grown up in the country, this struck a chord with me. I decided to incorporate some of this Aussie culture into my early childhood teaching and went in search of picture books that focused on Australian vernacular. To my surprise there were very few, so I decided to write one!
The canine character in Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush wasn’t based on any one particular dog, but was an amalgam of many; mongrels of indeterminate heritage, who were nonetheless valued and loved family members. Bruno’s best buddy, Bob the bushie, was modelled on my Dad, Tony Bright. Dad was a solitary person and preferred his animals to human company (family excepted!). Although he was born in England, Dad had a great passion for native fauna and flora and loved to roam through the bush with his loyal canines by his side. Dad’s preferred state of dress consisted of tatty old clothes, a battered Akubra hat and bare feet. So, with Bruno Bright and Bob the bushie as characters, it was a natural progression to write a story showcasing the quintessential language of rural Australia and brimming with alliteration.
Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush also promotes the idea that it is relationships, not possessions that make us happy; it isn’t what you have but who you’re with. Dogs really are the living embodiment of this. They are incredibly loyal and to them, their human is everything. While Bob and Bruno live in a broken down barracks, with very little money, life in the beautiful Australian bush is bonzer. One day Bob hits the bonanza and everything changes. Without a backward glance, they move to the big smoke. Bob buys lots of booty, but when he nearly loses Bruno, he realises life is meaningless without his best buddy.
Robyn Osborne is a teacher, author and animal fanatic based in Queensland. She has seven books published, including picture books Bruno the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush, Going Fishing, Going Camping and My Dog Socks; a 2018 CBCA Notable Book and shortlisted in the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year. Robyn has won a number of writing awards and been published in national journals, newspapers, anthologies and magazines.
Visit her at www.robynosborne.com or www.instagram.com/tiggystales
Follow Sox the pooch at www.facebook.com/theSox
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