My love of animals began with books.
Some of my earliest memories are of the excitement I felt when a monthly “I CAN READ” book would arrive in the mail, addressed just to me. I absolutely loved picture books. I still do.
The stories that shaped me most in those early years included the Adventures of Frog & Toad, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, Are You My Mother?, and of course The Lorax.
I was lucky. My mother read to me every night until I was around seven. Once I moved on from picture books, we read a chapter each night from her old favourites: Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, Black Beauty, Bambi, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Secret Garden, and so many more.
Years later, while wandering around our property in Australia with two orphaned kangaroos I was raising, I found myself thinking back to those same stories.
Watching them bounce at my heels, weaving through the bush and over rocks, I saw their personalities, their relationships, and their almost human qualities.
It struck me that most people never get the chance to know kangaroos this way.
I began to wonder if I could do for kangaroos what those childhood books did for me.
To this day, I can’t see a deer without thinking of Bambi, or a horse without thinking of Black Beauty. A mouse brings to mind Stuart Little, and yes, even spiders make me think of magnificent Charlotte.
What began as a small passion project has grown into an award-winning book and the beginning of a series.
And yes, living among these amazing animals, I do feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
Thank you for taking the time to visit Red Rabbit Books.
Born in California, Kelly Ryner spent much of her childhood living in Colombia, Barbados, and Panama before returning to the United States to attend Virginia Tech, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Design with a minor in Fine Art.
Her early career was spent in the film, television, and themed entertainment industries, working as a scenic artist and in-field art director on projects across the world, including Germany, Japan, and Spain, for companies such as Warner Bros. and Universal Studios.
Kelly later joined Thinkwell Group, a global company specialising in location-based entertainment design and production. Over the next two decades, she worked in business development and international expansion, eventually serving as President of Thinkwell Asia while leading the company’s Beijing studio for six years.
When the COVID pandemic brought international travel and large-scale productions to a halt, Kelly and her husband travelled to Australia to spend time with family and ultimately chose to make it home.
Now an Australian citizen, Kelly lives on a 25-acre wildlife property in regional New South Wales, where she rediscovered the artist within her after many years away from professional art practice. Surrounded by rescued kangaroos and native wildlife, she began creating the watercolour paintings and stories that would eventually become Red Rabbit Books.
Today, Kelly describes herself as a conservation artist, combining wildlife portraiture, storytelling, and educational children’s books to help foster empathy and appreciation for Australia’s native animals. Through both her artwork and books, she hopes to encourage a deeper connection between people and the wildlife around them.
