A local woman's creativity leads to a champion for healthy living

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by Hanne Armstrong
This Week Staff

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"Childhood obesity is a problem that has to be dealt with, and there are simple ways to do it," says author Sarah Butland.

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Stacey Merrigan/This Week

Sarah Butland’s first book, Sending You Sammy, teaches healthy eating and activity habits and is available in various locations in Greater Moncton, including Read’s.

Last year Sarah published a children's book called 'Sending You Sammy', which involves a ten-year-old boy who turns into a super hero named Banana Boy. What causes does Banana Boy champion? Those of healthy eating and an active lifestyle.

Sarah takes advantage of children's love of super heros and a well-told story to teach them about wise eating and living choices.

"Banana Boy's tasks are to get other kids to eat healthy foods and to be active," Sarah explains.

Only 25, Sarah knew after she graduated from high school that she wanted to be a writer. She has taken a writing course, and participates in various writers' groups. Her first book came out of this desire to write, combined with a concern for children.

"I found I liked working with writing, using my imagination and getting it down on paper," she says. "I would often see headlines about childhood obesity being a problem, but I never read that anything was being done about it, so I thought I could use my writing to be part of the solution."

Has her writing been part of the solution? Sarah thinks so. She has visited several schools in the area, reading and talking about her book which is very popular both with the children who read it and their teachers. Sales of 'Sending You Sammy' are going well, which she also takes as an indication that her message about healthy lifestyle is getting across.

Sarah was born in Ontario and raised in Nova Scotia. When she was 16, her family moved to Moncton, where she lives now with husband Paul. Paul's company, Prospec Industries, is the publisher of Sarah's book, and it is anticipated that the second in 'The Adventures of Sammy' series will be published in the fall of 2008.

A third book is nearing completion as well. The series, illustrated by Argentinian artist Juan Costa, is geared towards the five-to-ten-year-old age group.

Sarah is always writing, she says, and does not limit herself to children's books. Though in its early stages, she is also at work on an adult novel.

"I love writing," she says, and doesn't intend to stop. As with most authors, Sarah does not make her living with her writing, at least not yet. She is employed at a bank contact centre, and writes in her spare time. Does she plan to become a full-time writer?

"I hope that that will happen, I wish it would," she says. "But I don't know. It's a goal. I think of myself as a writer before anything else."

Should you wish to obtain a copy of 'Sending You Sammy', there are several ways to do so. Locally, the 44-page book is available at Cover to Cover in Riverview, Read's in Moncton and Riverview, and United Bookstores. Or, you can buy it online at amazon.ca and .com, and barnesandnoble.com.