It’s not every day that a girl and a decoy duck form a bond. But for preschooler Maverick (aka Mave) Kelly and her friend Freckles, that happened quickly.
To this day, Brittany Kelly said, it’s rare that you see one without the other. While watching her daughter’s friendship with Freckles unfold, inspiration struck.
The duo became the inspiration for Brittany’s new children’s book, named after the decoy duck that started it all — “Freckles.”
The Olathe author officially released her book at the end of June, and it’s now available on multiple platforms.
The book is based on a true friendship story
The inspiration behind the book is Kelly’s 5-year-old daughter, Mave, and Freckles — a duck decoy that Kelly’s husband purchased to use for hunting purposes, but quickly took on a different purpose with their daughter.
The book chronicles adventures with Mave and Freckles that Kelly said are based on the types of adventures they go on in real life.
Since Freckles first came home to Mave when she was 3 years old, Kelly said the two of them have become a “heartwarming” pair that people in the community look forward to seeing. (In fact, Freckles even received a “kindness award” at Maverick’s recent preschool graduation.)
“We’ll be walking through the store or the library or wherever, and we’ll hear people say, ‘Hey Maverick, hey Freckles!” she said. “They’re very much inspiring people and making people smile and making people laugh, because it is an odd pairing, and it’s not something you see and hear every day.”
“Freckles” is Kelly’s first book
“Freckles”, published with the help of Blue Balloon Books, serves as a literary debut for Kelly, whose background is primarily in vocal performance and business administration.
Though she’s spent more than a decade in the corporate world, Kelly said writing “Freckles” gave her the opportunity to exercise her creative side.
The book is generally geared toward children and their families, and Kelly said the sweet spot as far as its target audience is elementary school-aged children — which, she pointed out, is the time in a child’s life when they typically start to notice their differences from one another.
“I want to share this with other people, and make people feel like it’s OK to be different and to celebrate your differences,” she said. “Seeing that other people like the story and they’re sharing it, it’s truly, truly surreal.”
“Freckles” released on June 24
People can find “Freckles” in a number of places online, including on Amazon, book retailer Barnes & Noble’s website, and Walmart’s website.
This initial book may not be the only pages where readers see Maverick and Freckles, either. Since their adventures have continued in real life, Kelly said she’d like to draw inspiration from their ongoing journey for a sequel or two, depending on the response to the first book.
Ultimately, Kelly said part of the excitement of creating “Freckles” was getting the opportunity to tell her daughter’s story, and to document this time in Maverick’s life in a tangible way.
But as readers turn the pages of “Freckles”, Kelly said she hopes they learn not only about Maverick and Freckles specifically, but also that it’s OK to be different and to forge your own path and identity.
“It’s just about finding that you might think that you’re meant for one thing, but you’re actually meant for another, and that is a beautiful thing,” she said. “And it’s a lighthearted story, which our world could use a little bit more of right now.”
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