The past decade of drought has inspired the collective conscience of Australians to find ways to save water. As Australian author Nicola Chait, says, "The future of environmental issues rests with our children. Our children are the way forward, if we educate the kids correctly about the issue of water community attitudes will change as the next generation grows.”

Nicola has had a passion for life since she was very young; this passion to learn about the world led her to travel the world from the age of 17. In the early 1990's Nicola spent five years living in the Middle East working closely with children in a mentoring role. Nicola enjoyed sharing stories with school children of varying ages; stories that encased simple humour, human values and important environmental issues.

In 1995 Nicola returned to Australia to continue a career within the travel industry, on October 18th 2003 Nicola's life changed drastically; a debilitating car accident left Nicola much idle time in recovery from two serious back operations. During her recovery Nicola found herself often reflecting on the days spent in the Middle East storytelling with the children.

Nicola endured some very depressing times as she experienced chronic pain. “I was taken to the Promenade area at Docklands by a friend to lift my spirits and I realised that we are surrounded by water and yet that's the very thing we are lacking in this country - usable water. On leaving my outing at Docklands and arriving home I began writing this first book, Saving Water. And that was pretty much how the series began."

Time spent closely interacting with the children overseas and the inspiration of the Docklands waterways inspired Nicola and provided the opportunity to embark on writing her warm, witty and funny anecdotal stories that have been created into educational books for young children. The popular response so far from local children and their parents has prompted the demand for further stories in this series to be published.

With the recent release of Saving Water aimed at preschool children, Nicola hopes to have a small impact on the attitudes of future generations regarding our most precious resource, water. Nicola adds, "One of the most satisfying rewards to writing this picture book is seeing a child acting on one of the messages in the book, it makes me feel like I'm doing my little bit to help the planet. The little female character in Saving Water is named Pockets, and it's beautiful when you see a child wanting to save water just like Pockets. I really enjoy seeing a child's face the moment she connects with a humorous message in one of my stories; it’s that little giggle that just melts me."

To purchase your personally signed copy of Saving Water directly from the author, please call Nicola on 0425 768 032 and mention 3008 Docklands Magazine. RRP $9.95 (not including postage)