The Power of Me

By Andrea Brown and Dave Atze

When bullying takes away everything, it feels like nothing will ever change.

But when you discover the Power of Me, you can change everything.

Being the only Bunyip in primary school can be tough when you become the target of bullying. It feels like you’ve lost everything good about being you. Until you find t

• Language: English
• Publisher: PowerKids
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9780648745013

Andrea Brown

I wrote My Abilities to show children and adults with disabilities how they apply their abilities in life. In 1975 my mother brought my 2 brothers and sister and I from Jamaica to Canada. I live at home with my mom in Ottawa Ontario, Canada. I graduated from high school with a diploma in childcare, which allowed me to work with children and as a support worker with the elderly. I eventually took training programs in the restaurant industry. I came to writing as I have disabilities, put I want to use my abilities.

Book preview

ThePowerOfMe_COV.jpg

This book is dedicated to David, Josh and Hannah,

who believed in me (and Bunyip)

from the very beginning.

Copyright (c) Andrea Brown 2020.

Illustrations by Dave Atze.

Book design by Keisha Galbraith.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.

ISBN:978-0-6487450-1-3

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Note from the Author

Chapter 1

Once there was a Bunyip. He wasn’t big. He definitely wasn’t tall. In fact, Bunyip was pretty small. Yellow horns, warty feet, scales like a lizard, and a tail like no tail you’ve ever seen before!

Despite looking like no one else he knew, Bunyip was happy just being Bunyip.

Whenever he caught sight of his reflection in the shiny waters of his swampy billabong, deep in the Australian bush, Bunyip couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. He admired his shiny white front teeth, which stuck out, just a little. He smiled at the constellation of freckles on the left side of his round face, the large wart on the top of his nose and his curly ears that reminded him of the cauliflower he often ate for dinner. But above all, he was proud of his scaly yellow tummy, that appeared to glow and shine ever so brightly. Whenever he looked down at it, he just felt happy!

Bunyip loved music and he loved to dance, more than anything in the world. When Bunyip danced, however, it didn’t look anything like jazz, hip hop, or ballet. It was a unique move that involved a shake of his scaly green hips, arms swaying wildly from side to side, with a wiggle and a jiggle behind. ‘The Bunyip Wiggle’, his mum had named it, all those years ago, back when Bunyip had heard music for the very first time.