Surprise move from Aussie TV royalty

Logie-winning tv big Tony Armstrong is the latest successful a increasing database of Australian celebrities trying their manus astatine a caller trend: penning a best-selling children’s book.

The ABC News Breakfast big and erstwhile AFL footballer revealed to fans this week that had turned his manus to penning with his first-ever children's book, titled George The Wizard.

Releasing successful October, the publication is co-created with illustrator Emma Sjaan Beukers and follows a “quirky wizard” who lives connected a upland and learns to clasp his powers.

Armstrong told the Courier Mail helium “didn’t privation to constitute different footy communicative oregon needfully an Indigenous-led story” chiefly due to the fact that it was what helium said “people expected”.

“I emotion being successful the satellite of the fantastic and being a spot silly. Kids’ books conscionable propulsion the rules adjacent further retired the window,” Mr Armstrong said.

“It’s conscionable consciousness and emotion and I was drawn to that – the lone happening holding you up is you.”

The 34-year-old isn’t the archetypal among Australia’s tv royalty to crook his attraction to penning children’s books.

Earlier this week, Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac revealed helium excessively was penning his ain book: a heart-warming representation publication called Suddenly One.

The greeting amusement mainstay said the publication began aft his girl turned 1 and helium started “jotting down immoderate thoughts”, which turned into a poem and past a book.

For Home and Away histrion Ada Nicodemou, her debut children’s publication – Mia Megastar – was a mode to present a publication she’d person loved arsenic a kid of migrant parents.

“I ne'er had a publication similar this increasing up, I didn’t truly person radical connected TV that looked similar maine either,” Nicodemou told The Daily Telegraph earlier this year.

“I anticipation it is going to hopefully interaction a batch of girls retired determination from antithetic backgrounds due to the fact that we speech astir our culture.”

Other notable celebs-come-writers see Andy Lee, of Hamish and Andy fam, who successful 2016 launched his publication and audiobook series, “Do Not Open This Book”.

Zoe Foster Blake, woman of Mr Lee’s different fractional Hamish Blake, has herself published 9 books, including “Happy Farter’s Day” and “The Best contiguous Ever”.

In 2023, ABC big Shuan Micallef released his debut children’s book, Tales From A Tall Forest, joining The Project co-host Peter Helliar’s long-running Franke-Fish series.

Others see tennis prima Ash Barty with her “Ash Barty contiguous Little Ash” bid and Home and Away histrion Kate Ritchie’s “I Just Couldn’t Wait To Meet You”.