The Power of Being Odd Chapter One

T HE POWER OF BEING ODD

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The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence by HarperCollins Publishers Australia.

HarperCollins Publishers Australia • Brazil • Canada • France • Germany • Holland • India Italy • Japan • Mexico • New Zealand • Poland • Spain • Sweden Switzerland • United Kingdom • United States of America HarperCollins acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land upon which we live and work, and pays respect to Elders past and present. First published in Australia in 2023 by HarperCollins Children’sBooks a division of HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited Gadigal Country Level 13, 201 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000 ABN 36 009 913 517 harpercollins.com.au The right of Matt Stanton to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 . This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 , no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Copyright © Beck & Matt Stanton Pty Ltd 2023

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia. ISBN 978 0 7333 4065 9 (paperback) ISBN 978 1 4607 1213 9 (ebook)

Cover and internal design by Matt Stanton Author photograph by Jennifer Blau Printed and bound in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

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To you, dear reader. May you discover the incredible power of you.

T HE ODDS THE POWER OF BEING ODD

words and pictures by Matt Stanton

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CHAPTER ONE An odd walk in the desert

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When my mum was alive, she used to say ...

Kip, my love, you have an imagination ...

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as great as the universe.

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Inside your beautiful mind, there are ...

undiscovered worlds,

thrilling adventures,

things to build,

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things to grow

and games to play.

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There are heroes

and monsters,

things that feel soft and safe,

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and things that make you feel alive.

There are even things you can create in the real world.

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Your imaginary world and the real world are always dancing together.

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Sometimes thoughts that you imagine will make you feel things for real.

Sometimes they’ll even make you feel afraid.

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But do you remember the best thing to use your imagination for?

Fun.

Lots of fun.

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POKE!

Who poked my bottom?!

Hey!

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Your imagination can tie you in knots, but it can also set you free.

So what do we do with our imagination? We dance with it.

Like this?

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Just like that.

I never really understood what Mum meant when she talked about dancing with my imagination.

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I’m here with the Odds, who come from my imagination, and we’re all following the Woman in the Suit, who’s also from my imagination.

I’m pretty sure none of us feels like dancing though.

The Woman in the Suit wants to show us something, but I have a bad feeling.

I have a bad feeling.

Stop.

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YEOW! Seriously? Who poked me in the bottom?

Not again!

Shh. We’re here.

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