Bendigo children's author Jolene Morse encourages empathy in new book 'Jake the Crocodile

The book was illustrated by another Bendigo local and Mrs Morse's sister Debra Randall, and was written to teach children to be empathetic and not make snap judgments about people, especially based on looks.

Mrs Morse, a mother to two young boys aged six and ten, read literature and classics to her boys often and had always wanted to write creatively.

She said she had two personal experiences that inspired 'Jake the Crocodile.'

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The first was at her son's school disco where a girl, aged six, wouldn't take her hoodie off because she felt she didn't have the right hair and was scared people would make fun of the way she looked.

"It just broke my heart," Mrs Morse said.

She said she was aware children faced issues like these, but was surprised to learn that it happened to children so young.

"To see it occurring at such a young age and, and such a tender age when they shouldn't have that concern, it really made me concerned about what we are generating as a society," Mrs Morse said.

The second inspiration for the book happened when she was on holiday with her family.

She said she noticed people talking about crocodiles and how ugly they were, but she didn't feel the same way, she just saw the beauty of the creature.

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"The two ideas merged: the perception of people to make those snap judgments about the external appearance," Mrs Morse said.

"It's a really sad way to look at the world."

The author said social media and technology to an extent influenced the way that young people thought, perceived the world and made judgments.

She said children found it difficult to know what was real or not, especially when they saw images on social media that had been photoshopped because of their limited cognitive ability.

"I think it really is more important than ever, to encourage that tolerance and acceptance of others, because what you see on the screen is not always what you're going to run into in reality," Mrs Morse said.

"So how do we actually make sure our children have that tolerance and that good mental health as well? 'Cause they may not look like what's on the screen, but the person on the screen may not look like that in reality either."

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Being a mother had influenced the author's writing.

"It's given me a different sense of perspective," Mrs Morse said.

"The meaning behind this story was actually something that I wanna instill in my children as well."

Mrs Morse said she hoped 'Jake the Crocodile' would teach children to be more empathetic, tolerant, and kind, and therefore better people in general.

"Teaching them that tolerance and making that difference to even one child would mean the world, because it means there's one less child that's feeling isolated," Mrs Morse said.

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