On Monday, a mattress appeared under the overpass.
On Tuesday, a blanket, and an upside-down box.
On Wednesday, most of a sofa.
On Thursday, a pile of clothes.
On Friday there appeared a rickety old man asleep on a rickety old chair.
‘We have a new neighbour!’ said Mum.
It is Christmas time, and a homeless man sets up a makeshift home under a bridge, across the river from Melody’s house. Their homes are different. Their lifestyles are different. Their cultures are different. What will Melody think about her new neighbour? How will they get on?
Christmas Under the Overpass is a delightful, sensitive, heart-warming story of compassion, curiosity, and empathy for the homeless and marginalized in society.
As of 2022, around half a million individuals are homeless in America.
Christmas Under the Overpass explores the realities of homelessness, and the kindness of a child.
Katie Flannigan is a children’s author/illustrator, an animal advocate and climate activist. Katie’s stories focus on issues that matter like bullying, homelessness, feminism, determination, and courage. Where possible she likes to include messaging about climate change and kindness toward all animals. Katie is an Occupational Therapist, has a Masters in Neuro Linguistic Programming and is an Honorary Life Member of the WCEI International. Katie lives in Melbourne with her husband, three children, way too many dogs and four very large rescue cows.
Katrina is a children’s book illustrator based on the beautiful Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria Australia. She studied Fine Art at the University of Ballarat (Federation Uni) and she holds a post graduate degree in Visual Communication Design from Deakin University. Katrina works from her home studio, illustrating for a range of clients and aims to convey a sense of emotion, playfulness and tenderness in her illustrations, which can be seen in her chosen subjects and individual illustrative style. Working in traditional mediums, she creates her illustrations using coloured pencil, graphite, watercolour, ink and gouache and her style can be described as detailed, classic and realistic. Katrina enjoys creating images of beauty and finds it wonderfully satisfying when her work connects with people and brings joy to the viewer.
