SOUTH REWARD--His name is Burt. He is, well, … a coconut and he’s on a mission to make friends by battling shyness.
This is the foundation of a St. Maarten-inspired children’s book titled The Adventures of a Coconut Named Burt, by Judy Condon. The author was motivated to pen the story after fostering a very shy St. Maarten child.
Written in rhyme, the story follows a child similar to Condon’s foster who found a coconut with human-like facial features which he named Burt. The coconut becomes the catalyst for the shy child to develop friendships.
The book is illustrated by Milton Peters College students Dennis Kiril Amajan, Aziza Baly Vanderpool, Alicia Bordes, Marco Chen and Sabrina De La Fuente. Condon met the students every Thursday for almost a year to develop the sketches that would eventually become the book.
The art project utilised each student’s individual talents.
“Dennis, who won first prize in the art contest in 2017, is excellent at graphic design, whereas Alicia enjoys using watercolour pencils. If a sketch needed to be completed, Dennis would draw it and Alicia would colour,” explained Condon. “Sabrina loved bright, bold Magic Markers and Marco was our backgrounds specialist, which he created with spray paints. Aziza was talented in many mediums, but preferred chalk.”
Condon has donated a number of copies to the Methodist Agogic Centre school campuses and to the schools under the umbrella of the Catholic School Board. Other primary schools interested in receiving copies of the book free of charge can contact the author on tel. 526-5362.
Copies of the The Adventures of a Coconut Named Burt are also available in Shipwreck Shops, Van Dorp Bookstores and Good Cards and Other Cool Stuff in Simpson Bay.
Condon, a former teacher and superintendent of schools in the United States, is the author of some 45 self-published books on decorating homes and gardens. She has delivered workshops to St. Maarten teachers on effective instructional practices for teaching spelling. She has owned an antique business for 20 years.
