First he secured a Guinness World record, then made international headlines, and now Chris the Sheep has his own children's book.
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The Misadventures of Chris the Sheep tells the story of the once-errant sheep who was rescued from Mulligans Flat by RSPCA ACT in September 2016 and received a potentially lifesaving shear of 41.1 kilograms of wool.
The book has been self-published by RSPCA ACT and was written by CEO Tammy Ven Dange.
"The story was obviously a big story and we actually had quite a few people who told us we should write a book after the ordeal," she said.
"We did start off with more of a biography. We actually have a lot of pictures from the rescue that we've never shown to the public. But the reality is we also had quite a few people say, 'you should do a kids book'.
"And we've had greater ambitions for a while to do a children's educational program, that would teach kids how to respect animals and also care for them. And it made a lot of sense to use a character like Chris to begin that journey especially if there's an opportunity to create potentially some residual income that might continue to fund the program over time."
The book is Ms Ven Denge's first attempt at writing fiction. It is written in rhyme, and tells the tale of Chris getting lost from his flock, and how he went on to grow his huge fleece, which secured the record for heaviest sheep fleece in 2015 from the Guinness Book of World Records.
"The book answers the question, or at least our best guess as far as what happened to Chris, how did he get so big to begin with, and answers all of the questions along the way that kids have asked me, like 'why did he lose his wool?' or 'how did he protect himself from the feral dogs and foxes?'," she said
"It goes through the whole process of him being a silly sheep to one that nearly dies and is rescued."
These days, Chris spends his time away from the spotlight, chewing grass and following his newfound flock at a NSW hobby farm.
The book was illustrated by local artist Kylie Fogarty, and this is also the first time she has illustrated a whole children's book.
For inspiration she spent time at Mulligan's Flat and also visited Chris' record-breaking fleece, which is now on display at the National Museum of Australia.
Ms Ven Dange said that they now hope to attract a publisher.
The Misadventures of Chris the Sheep is available for $29.95 from the RSPCA ACT shelter in Weston, or can be pre-ordered at christhesheep.com, with all funds going back to the RSPCA ACT.
