A new coin has been minted as a tribute to one of Australia's most popular children's books, Mem Fox's Where is the Green Sheep?
The Royal Australian Mint has unveiled a new coin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mem Fox's beloved children's book, Where is the Green Sheep?
The 20-cent coin will be released in three different versions, including 25,000 coins packaged in a copy of the book, 5,000 coins in a themed card, and 3,000 gold-plated coins in a deluxe special edition book.
Illustrator Judy Horacek said she was "thrilled" when she heard about the coin.
"There's something really exciting about a coin … maybe it's because it's so solid, or it's golden, or like treasure, that it is a huge honour," Ms Horacek said.
"Some families have stories that go with every single one of these different sheep … and then now it's on a coin. I hope they kind of go: 'Happy birthday, green sheep'."
The inspiration for the book came from Ms Horacek publishing etchings of different animals on her website — including a red cat, a blue dog, and a green sheep.
She was surprised when Ms Fox came across the designs and fell in love with the green sheep.
"[She] contacted me and said, 'You must make that into a book'. So I said: 'Well, why don't we work on that together?''' Ms Horacek said.
Now, almost three million copies of the book have been sold globally.
Ms Horacek said there were a combination of factors about the book that resonated with children.
"There's sort of a silliness and a humour in the illustrations, and colour and movement," she said.
"Kids love rhythm and rhyme and repetition, but there's a bit of mystery … it's a quest, and we just hit on a magic combination of those things."
Earlier this year, the mint released one dollar coins featuring Australia's favourite blue heeler, Bluey.
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