Kelly Ryner's experience raising joeys led to her first illustrated kids book

Kelly Ryner's first book Maxie Roo is Just Like You traces the lives of two young kangaroos, highlighting the unique beauty of the strange marsupial, in the hope it will help protect them into the future.

"If my little book can inspire kids down the road to think a little differently about the magnificent animals we have here, I've met my purpose in life," Ms Ryner said.

Ms Ryner wanted to characterise kangaroos in a book that didn't reduce them to a human, but celebrated how weird, whacky and clever they really were.

If anyone knows just how unique Australia's national animal is, it would be Ms Ryner. After all, she hand raised two of them.

Maxie Roo was born out of Ms Ryner's experience hand raising two joey kangaroos from Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary.

"Wildlife care is a full time job," she said.

"They demand all your attention."

Watching two energetic joeys grow up provided a new perspective on the creature.

"The more I got to know them, I couldn't get over how unique they are - the way they use their hands, the way they stand. It's very different from what humans have as pets," she said.

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"I've come to understand their habits in the wild and how mothers mother their children in the wild.

"Spending all that time watching them grow and develop, it broke my heart there are so many people around Australia and the world who don't know how precious kangaroos are."

When the joeys were old enough to allow Ms Ryner some spare time again, she began formulating rhyme in her head, based off Maxie and Indie - her two roos who are "truly best friends".

She hopes her book captures the traits of a kangaroo, and what it would be like to be a little bouncing macropod.

The former scenic artist also picked up her watercolour paints after 40 years to do the illustrations for the book.

The real Maxie and Indie have now joined the local mob, but Ms Ryner sees them bouncing around from time to time.

"There is nothing as wonderful as them growing up and joining the mob," she said.

Ms Ryner is donating all the proceeds from her books to the Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary.

She is a member of Creative Arts Batemans Bay Inc. and is holding a book launch at the organisation's gallery in Mogo from 3 to 4pm on November 3. Ms Ryner will be reading the story and signing copies of the book at the event.