Strangely enough, the books are based on a true story. 

“My friend grew up in the Falkland Islands and she met this little penguin that followed her around and would not go back to sea,” she said. 

“It’s a really fascinating story.” 

So Shirley decided to both write and illustrate a trilogy of children’s books based on the unusual friendship.

The first two books, Prince Oliver Penguin and his Friend Olivia and Olivia and Prince Oliver's Penguins, were launched in front of an excited crowd of children at Nowra Library on October 5. 

“What’s great about these books is that they are both text and picture, they’re for children transitioning to text only books,” she said. 

“It’s not just children between the ages of five and seven that love the books though, children as young as two and as old as 11 really seem to like them.” 

It's been a whirlwind experience for Shirley, who only began writing children’s books about four months ago.

“I also illustrated the novels. I hadn’t picked up a pencil to draw or paint since I was a child at school,” she said. 

“This just goes to show that if I can do it, anyone can.”