Meet the author!
Hi! I’m Ainsley, a Queensland-based author, photographer, and first-time mum who wrote the book I couldn’t find on the shelves.
Inspired by my real-life red 4x4 named Percie and a lifelong love of Australia's environment, I created Percie's Adventures, a rhyming children's book series set in real Australian locations.
Each book carries simple but powerful lessons for little explorers.
I self-publish under my imprint Ya Mums Library and give back through a buy one give one charitable scheme that I offer my readers when purchasing my books.
Percie’s Story
Percie’s story starts in Petrie, QLD on the 21st of November 2021. My school friend, Issy, and I had decided we wanted to build a car together. We wanted to learn the ins-and-outs of how to build, maintain and drive our very own 4×4. We had debated for weeks about what car we should look at but ended up deciding to search for a Nissan GQ Patrol.
After hours of scrolling on Facebook Marketplace we shortlisted 5 ads and messaged the owners to see if we could go have a look at the vehicles. Only one responded. His name was Troy and he was available for us to come inspect he car that very same day! So we packed up and drove over to Troy’s place, with a quick google search on what to look for when inspecting a vehicle. Just 2 hours later we’d placed a deposit on Percie and were arranging a car trailer to pick him up. You should’ve seen the look on my Dad’s face when I told him what I’d done!
When I tell you Issy and I knew nothing about building a 4×4, we knew absolutely NOTHING! We were starting with a completely blank slate.
November 2021
January 2022
Originally, Issy and I had dreamed of creating a Build Series focused on restoring and then traveling around in Percie. Unfortunately, that wasn't how to worked out for us for a couple of reasons and I ended up buying Issy out and became 100% owner of Percie. Life also ended up having other plans for me and I didn’t really work on Percie for a very long time.
March 2023
March of 2023 was a BIG month for Percie, he got some upgraded headlights, a chrome grille and suspension! It was all very exciting! This was also the month he got registered and was able to wear his “P3RC13” plates for the first time! This was the moment the little Percie character in my head was born. The rest of 2023 was spent tinkering with the oil filter, steering dampener, fuel filter and cleaning up the wiring in the engine bay.
February 2024
February 2024 Percie was off to Hervey Bay for a few weeks to get some of his rust repaired by the extremely talented Smithy’s Custom Fab. I missed Percie a lot while he was gone but he came back looking brand spanking new! 2024 was also the year Percie was fitted with some brand new machine finish ROH Assault rims wrapped in Predator all-terrain tyres. 2024 is also the year I found out I was pregnant and welcomed my son Ollie into the world! It was during those late nights during the newborn stage where I decided I should write a book about Percie for Ollie and all the other little explorers to be in Australia.
June 2025
Between June and October of 2025 Percie was completely taken apart! The engine and transmission was taken off the chassis and the cab was left floating on a crane as well. While in these pieces Percie had his chassis wire-wheeled and freshly painted a nice black. After he was all back in one piece we installed a new suspension from Superior Engineering, a rear bar from Raslarr and some interior goodies from KAON. We finished off 2025 by bringing Percie back home to Brisbane.
Now
Since coming back home Percie has sat for a bit longer waiting for the latest mods to be installed, a roof rack from Tier One Metalworks, his genuine bumper, an awning from 30 Second Awning and some gorgeous seat covers from Razorback.
are you on channel?
Send your question, idea, or high-five, and we'll craft fun pages together!