When Major County Farm Bureau member Paisley White started caring for a local bottle calf, it was the beginning of more than just an experience in animal husbandry.
The adventures of the calf – named Scout – soon found their way into the agriculture-accurate children’s book that White wrote and illustrated: “Scout the Scottish Highlander.”
White, a high school senior, has spent her entire life in agriculture. She grew up on her family’s western Oklahoma farm, was a Major County 4-H club member and is currently a Fairview FFA member.
The inspiration for White’s book began when a family in their area that raises Scottish highland cattle posted on social media that they had a bottle calf. White’s mom showed her the post and thought she needed to take care of the calf.
“I ended up bottle feeding this calf all throughout the winter,” White said.
White said her mom came up with the idea for her to write a children’s book about raising the calf. As Scout became a project for White, she started writing a story featuring Scout while creating her own illustrations with watercolors.
“I wanted to make sure this book had facts in it besides the actual story,” White said. “We added factual terms, but we had to explain them throughout the book so children would be able to understand them.”
Once she had the story down, White needed to have a picture to go with each page that put into perspective what Scout was actually doing, she said. White said most people don’t realize how many pictures go into a book like the one she created.
“I never thought I would’ve written a book as a junior in high school,” White said. “Although I have been writing stories in my free time since about the second grade, so it wasn’t surprising that a book came from it.”
“Scout the Scottish Highlander” tells the story of a highland calf whose mother could not take care of him because she had mastitis. Scout became a bottle calf that needed love and care. Paisley, the author’s namesake and Scout’s caretaker in the book, took him in and gave him a place to stay while he was still a bottle calf. Throughout the book, Scout and Paisley become friends and have adventures out in the barnyard, one of them being Scout running through a fence.
The first time White read the book was to a local pre-K class that came out to the family’s farm to meet Scout. The students had the opportunity to learn first-hand how calves are fed and raised.
“In the future I’d like to be a Pre-K teacher,” White said. “The book allows me to bring some of the ag world into the education world.”
“I feel like I’m getting to experience bringing ag into my future classroom before I become a pre-K teacher in the future.” Since the book has been released, White has had numerous opportunities to read her book to local pre-K classes, including during September’s Read an Accurate Ag Book Week. She also had the opportunity to attend the Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom conference with a booth to share her own book with Oklahoma educators.
“Yes, this is an accurate agriculture book,” White said. “But it’s a true story.”
You can find “Scout the Scottish Highlander” on Amazon to purchase your very own copy.
