By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
Following in her father’s creative footsteps, 11-year-old Waldon Middle School student Kennedy Keller published her first book,’Allie the Annoying Elephant, with a strong message.
‘Allie learns that it’s okay to be different and that you shouldn’t change who you are for others. There is no point in doing that if you like who you are,? Kennedy said.
In the book, Allie the elephant has a rough time making friends because no one will laugh at her ‘corny? jokes.
?’A lot of people try to be the popular kids, which is pretty stupid because you can only have the friends you are truly friends with. You can’t just make up this random character to have fake friends for you. You have to be yourself.?
Allie’s father, Joseph Keller, had never heard’that’explanation.
‘This is an 11-year-old saying this, that’s pretty deep. She never told that to me,? he said.
Joseph was Kennedy’s initial inspiration back in the fourth grade.
In his first published book,’Single Effort ‘a dating manual for guys who were in long term relationships and are single again (‘Definitely not the genre I would expect Kennedy to be writing about,? he added,)’Joe wrote Kennedy’s name in his acknowledgement’s section.
‘She was so enthralled to see her name in the book she said she would write one too. I just patted her on the head and said ‘ok.? And then she did it.?
After she finished the story, which ended well for Allie, Kennedy and her dad made revisions. ‘I would say, this might need more detail, or brush that out. But those words were truly her own,? Joseph Keller said.
Then Kennedy sketched out the vivid and colorful illustrations for her book, and a professional illustrator hashed them out over the course of a year.
The hardest part was finding the publisher, Joe Keller said, who located Keith Publications, LLC, a small publishing company based in Arizona.
‘They did a good job of getting it out there,? he said. ‘The book turned out very nice.?
With the first copy in her hand, Kennedy took’Allie the Annoying Elephant’to Waldon Middle School earlier this month, where all of her teachers read it and almost 40 kids too.
Kennedy said the students were very curious.
‘They were just like, ‘so you can buy this? I should totally get this and have you sign it for me,?? Kennedy said. ‘I love it. It’s so cool.?
Each of the characters in her story were inspired by people in Kennedy’s life. Her favorite character, a giraffe named Leaf, is based off on her fourth, a long-term substitute, who left at the end of the year.
‘She was really tall and skinny and only ate salad,? Kennedy said. ‘She was my favorite teacher ever.?
After finding a true friend, another elephant named Hippo, Allie marries him and has three kids, who are also all based off of Kennedy’s little nieces and nephews.
And’Allie the Annoying Elephant’is only the first of the series. Kennedy is already working on Allie’s second adventure with Hippo, a voyage into space involving an onslaught of space monkeys.
Find out more information on Kennedy’s 34-page book, which costs $12.95 and can be purchased on’amazon.com, at’www.allietheannoyingelephant.com/.
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