Eight-year-old Liesel Winkler from Perth, an avid reader and aspiring writer, has achieved her goal of becoming a published author. Passionate about storytelling, Liesel recently completed a comedy about a farmer and a pig. Her journey to publication was facilitated by a national competition from the Center of Excellence for the Digital Child, which invited children to submit story concepts about screen time and balance.
Liesel, inspired by her neighbor, the Matildas soccer team, and teleportation from video games, wrote one of the four winning stories. She collaborated with digital technology educator Kim Maslin to bring “The Day Lucy and Leo are Tele-Sported” to life, with illustrations by Phoebe Zeng. The book, along with three others, was launched on March 21.
The project highlighted the importance of managing screen time to foster creativity and communication in children. Ms. Maslin emphasized that, when used appropriately, screen time can be beneficial. Liesel’s mother, Lisa, expressed pride in her daughter’s accomplishment and appreciated the creative development facilitated by the collaboration with Ms. Maslin.
