What was the inspiration behind When I Grow Up?
The inspiration for the story came from my students. I’ve spent 15 years working as an Early Childhood Teacher. Early on in my career I was doing a unit on occupations with my class (4 & 5 year olds). We’d spent a few weeks examining various types of occupations and had lots of visitors from the local community come in to chat with the kids about their jobs. Toward the end of the unit, I was looking for a book that would encourage my students to use their imagination and come up with a few occupations they would like to do when they grow up. I couldn’t find the type of book I was after so in the end I decided to write it myself!
Over the course of a few days I had completed the transcript and couldn’t wait to share it 
with my students. I also created a simple worksheet for the kids to do after reading the book to reinforce the ideas raised in the story. My students loved the story and it created a huge class discussion on occupations. It was the perfect way to complete the unit on occupations. At that point the story had served its purpose so I put it away and forgot all about it.
The inspiration for the story to become an actual children’s book was my own children. Almost a decade later my daughter was born and as she was growing up began showed a huge interest in books and reading. I found the story and read it to my daughter who absolutely loved it. It was actually her idea to make it into a ‘proper’ book as she thought other children would enjoy reading it as well. So the process began and a year later, When I Grow Up was in production and ready to go.
It’s been a long journey from the time I had the original idea for the story, all the way through to holding the first hard copy of the book in my hands. But it’s been an amazing and thoroughly worthwhile experience that I couldn’t have done without the support of my beautiful family. My wife, Heather, and kids, Mikayla and Harry, have been my biggest supporters and I can’t thank them enough. I’m now looking forward to getting the book out into the community for children to enjoy.
*****
About the Author:
Author Matt Williams resides in Newcastle, NSW and is the proud father of two gorgeous kids, Mikayla and Harry. He’s an Early Childhood educator with 15 years experience in the industry. Matt has a passion for encouraging children to read books as he’s seen firsthand the benefits it brings to a child’s development.
Matt’s vision for When I Grow Up is to create a story that provokes discussion and encourages children to dream about their possible future profession. When I Grow Up comes with access to a worksheet available online to print and complete after reading the story. This worksheet is designed to be an engaging and productive way to reinforce the ideas from the book.
*****
