I’ve been busy these past few months helping my lovely friend, Matty Angel, realise her dream of becoming a published author. Matty is a poet and an artist. She is also autistic. I feel very fortunate to have met and befriended Matty – she is one of the sweetest people I know. So when I heard she wanted to release a book, I had to help her.
And I had the privilege of illustrating it for her too.

Late one night, I heard a strange sound… and followed my favorite pink striped sock into another world.
A very scary world…

“Once Upon a Wash” is a lively poem-story, written by autistic poet, Matty Angel and illustrated by Angela Oliver.

“Once Upon a Wash” is being released in two formats – the smaller black and white chapter book, and a larger full color edition. Having seen the two side-by-side, I can definitely say that the color version is well worth the higher price! It contains a couple more images, has larger font, and the font is blue. We have been told that this makes it easier for dyslexics to read, so hopefully that is the case. Either way, it’s a delightful story and I had an immense lot of fun drawing Bear Friend Autumn, Pink Striped Sock, the dastardly Sock Soldiers, a large amount of washing machines, and hiding Matty’s cat, Princess Nomnom, in every interior illustration.

If you live in New Zealand and wish to order a copy, signed by Matty and I, please visit this page: Once Upon a Wash Pre-order

If you live outside New Zealand and wish to order it, the color version will be available through Amazon later this week.

And, if you wish to learn more about Matty, and read her poetry and other posts for yourself, please visit her blog: Matty Angel

(All proceeds from this book are going to Matty.)