ABOUT KAREN

Karen Hendriks is  an Australian picture book author with Go Away, Foxy Foxy, Feathers and Home recently being published. Feathers was shortlisted for the international Rubery Awards in 2021. The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson read Feathers on her You Tube channel. Home is listed on the Australian Refugee Council’s webpage as a picture book resource.

Karen’s website is karenhendriks.com.  Karen writes stories that are heartfelt and quirky. Her home is on the south coast of New South Wales and she loves the ocean and nature. Karen has swum with manta rays and turtles. She’s too afraid to scuba dive and prefers to snorkel. Karen dreams of swimming with whale sharks one day.

KAREN AND ALISA’S BOOK
Home is a picture book inspired by Karen’s own family history. The heart locket character is based upon her heart locket from the village of Wunschendorf where her Mum and Oma were born. Home is about losing a home, finding a new one but never forgetting the home that you lost. War ends, yet its dark shadow remains. A family is forced to flee their home. As they journey through hunger, long cold nights, and homelessness, a heart locket whispers words of hope. And a country that’s far away, calls  for those that are no longer wanted. It offers new beginnings and a precious place, once more to call home. 

The illustrator, Alisa Knatko is Russian and she lives in St Petersburg, Russia so Home has a very European look and feel.

THE HARDEST THING ABOUT WRITING HOME
I wanted to shine a light not on a story that is largely unknown but I also wanted it to be one my mum would be happy with. There’s a lot of sadness about war and it’s important to know these sort of stories because war is cruel. It was hard to write because my own mum, grandmother and great grandmother went through this event in history.

THE MOST FUN THING ABOUT WRITING HOME
The most fun thing was discovering that the family home still stands today. My dream is to visit the house one day. I discovered that a small group of survivors still visit the village each year in June. 

KAREN’S WRITING PROMPT
What is a favourite memory you have about your own home? See if you can make this memory into a story? You can be the main character in your story or you can invent a completely new character.