IT’S not often you see the words “maths teacher” and “children’s author” in the same sentence, but both titles apply to Bathurst’s Dr Noel Thomas.
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He first came to the city in 1973 from Papua New Guinea to teach at Mitchell College of Advanced Education (MCAE), which later became Charles Sturt University (CSU).
Dr Thomas retired from his position as a lecturer at the School of Teacher Education in 2003.
Since then, Dr Thomas has worked on a number of personal projects.
The latest of these was a children’s book, Mr Peacock: Searching for a Friend, which was launched at the Bathurst Early Childhood Intervention Service on October 17.
Many Bathurst residents would be familiar with the title character.
The peacock is often seen wandering the West Bathurst area and is most commonly sited on Keppel Street.
Dr Thomas said the peacock actually resides in his garden, coming and going as it pleases, and has done so for nearly a decade.
It was found wounded by Dr Thomas’ former neighbour, who kept it in a coop in their yard while it recovered and later released it, but it never left the area.
“I don’t think it has ever returned to that garden, but it seems to have adopted us,” Dr Thomas said.
The book centres on Mr Peacock’s hunt for a new friend, with children suggesting animals he might get along with.
A number of Bathurst locations, like the Adventure Playground, also feature in the story.
It has been a remarkably good seller.
- Dr Noel Thomas
Dr Thomas said he initially wanted to create the book as a gift for his grandchildren, of which he has 12 and another one on the way.
The plan was to make something that would both interest them and encourage them to read.
All of the grandchildren feature in the book, as do some of their pets and favourite animals.
They were treated to an early release of the book last Christmas and have since given Dr Thomas very positive feedback.
“It has been amazingly good, interesting,” he said. “They were all intrigued because for them it not only has familiar things and animals, but it has their names, too.”
Dr Thomas decided to self-publish his story and created the initial version on Snapfish, an online service that helps create personalised photo gifts.
He later worked closely with Central Commercial Printers over the course of several months to create the final product for sale.
In addition to writing, Dr Thomas also took all the photos himself and used artwork produced by his grandchildren for the remainder of the illustrations.
Mr Peacock: Searching for a Friend is now on sale to the public from Books Plus.
Dr Thomas said he is already seeing interest in the book.
“It has been a remarkably good seller. There seems to be a lot of interest in it from grandparents, for presents,” he said.
Friends and family were able to read the book prior to its launch and many have asked Dr Thomas when the next one will be available.
He said he has no plans at this stage, but would be happy to write another children’s book if he had the right inspiration.
