BRISBANE, Australia - s4story -- When children's author and stand-up comedian Angela Greensill started receiving requests to write stories featuring Australian animals, she had a decision to make.

Australia has some extraordinary wildlife. Kangaroos, koalas, wombats, echidnas — an entire continent of creatures that seem to have been designed by a committee with a questionable sense of humour.

But for Angela, there was only one serious contender.

The platypus.

And for a woman who has spent more than a decade performing stand-up comedy, that seemed like an excellent place to start.

But what do you call something that ridiculous?

She knew the character needed a name. Not just any name, either. A creature this wonderfully absurd deserved something equally ridiculous.

And that's when inspiration came from an unexpected place.

Growing up, Angela's father had a silly childhood nickname for her. The kind of affectionate, nonsensical name that probably wouldn't make much sense to anyone outside the family.

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That childhood nickname became the inspiration for a new character.

The Wonky Woo was born.

And somewhere along the way, the story became about something much bigger than a funny-looking Australian animal.

It became a story about the secret language of families.

Think about it.

Does your family have a strange word that nobody else understands?

Perhaps your toddler once mispronounced something so spectacularly that the entire family adopted the new word.

Or perhaps there's a peculiar expression in your household that would leave a visitor wondering whether everyone had temporarily lost their minds.

These words rarely appear in dictionaries.

They're part of the private vocabulary that develops between people who love one another.

And sometimes, the more ridiculous the word, the more affection it carries.

And that's the rather lovely idea hiding behind The Wonky Woo.

There's a little psychology behind the silliness

Alongside her comedy career, Angela has a degree in behavioural science, majoring in psychology.

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Psychology provides an understanding of human behaviour and relationships. Comedy brings surprise, playfulness and an appreciation for the absurd.

And growing up on a Queensland farm gave her a lifelong connection to animals, nature and imaginative storytelling.

Together, those influences have helped shape a collection of colourful children's books featuring everything from busy bees and friendly aliens to rather unusual Australian wildlife.

So there you have it.

A platypus, a childhood nickname and a family secret really did walk into a children's book.

And what came out was The Wonky Woo — a story inspired by the funny, affectionate and wonderfully peculiar language that makes every family different.

And if you'd like to meet the rather peculiar platypus who inspired all this nonsense, you can discover The Wonky Woo and Angela Greensill's other colourful children's books at:

www.angelagreensill.com