Bailey Bosch is passionate about encouraging a love of reading in children – particularly in boys.
Bailey Bosch was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to Perth, Western Australia with her parents, two brothers, two sisters and two grandparents when she was twelve. She has written three books in the Amazing Adventures of Axel Akuna series so far. Her inspiration comes from a strong belief that amongst all the voices of the world, the loudest should belong to the children. Bailey is passionate about encouraging a love of reading in children – particularly in boys. In between looking after her two year old son, new baby and doing her PhD in Psychology, she keeps out of trouble by writing stories for children and young adults.
About Me
After graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Psychology I completed my Masters of Counselling. I am currently working on my PhD in Psychology and hope to have it completed within the next two years. I worked in a woman’s refuge with child victims of domestic violence and left after I was offered teaching and research positions at the University of Notre Dame. I was responsible for teaching Developmental Psychology and Research Methods to Behavioural Science students from all degrees. I was also responsible for coordinating a Western Australia-wide survey of childhood obesity and exercise levels, answerable directly to the Premier’s office. During this time I also worked on a sessional basis at the University of Western Australia teaching medical students ‘people skills’ and was recently asked by the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health to conduct research into the impact of childcare on the psychological development of children aged 0-3.
I have a keen interest in child development and over the years have built up a strong knowledge base on the topic. I have come to recognize more and more the importance of reading in building the foundation for a successful and enjoyable education. On a personal level, as the mother of two young boys, I am keen to see quality reading materials available to boys who are generally considered a difficult group to engage. Having published in an academic context, I was eager to be more creative and started The Amazing Adventures of Axel Akuna. The feedback I have received from both children and my professional colleagues so far has been very encouraging and I hope that children will identify with the themes and characters in my books. From a teaching perspective there are many elements to the books that can be expanded on in the classroom and all are developmentally appropriate to the age group at which the stories are targeted.
