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Quirky Kid launched Basecamp®, a major three-year publishing project designed to translate child anxiety psychology into an engaging, structured program for children and families.
Basecamp® grew from Quirky Kid’s clinical and publishing work and became the organisation’s third major educational publication, following The Best of Friends® and Power Up!.
The Australian Book Designers Association’s account of the project describes Basecamp® as the result of three years of collaborative work between Lisa Diebold, Dr Kathryn Berry and Leonardo Rocker.
Turning anxiety treatment into an adventure
Rather than presenting anxiety management as a conventional workbook, Basecamp® uses a fictional Australian national park as the setting for learning. Children move through themed locations, characters and activities while practising psychological skills related to anxious thinking, avoidance, problem solving and coping.
Basecamp® combines cognitive behavioural principles with illustration, structured activities and practical exercises designed to make complex ideas more approachable for children.
A substantial collaborative publishing project
The development process involved psychology, writing, illustration, design and repeated testing. The Australian Book Designers Association later documented multiple preliminary versions of the resource and the effort involved in turning therapeutic concepts into a coherent child-facing experience.
Its Australian Book Design Awards archive records Quirky Kid as the publisher, Dr Kathryn Berry as author, and Lisa Diebold and Leonardo Rocker as designers.
For Quirky Kid, Basecamp® represented a step up in scale and complexity from earlier publications and demonstrated how clinical knowledge could be developed into a substantial educational product for use beyond the consulting room.
Recognition followed the launch
Basecamp® went on to become one of Quirky Kid’s most recognised publishing projects. In 2018 it won the Educational Initiatives Award at the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards and Best Designed Educational Primary/Secondary Book at the Australian Book Design Awards.
Read about Basecamp® winning at the London Book Fair.
Read about Basecamp® winning the Australian Book Design Award.
The launch remains an important company milestone because it brought Quirky Kid’s psychology, publishing and design capabilities together in a single long-form program.
