When young Anna Egan's parents encouraged their five-year-old daughter to put her name into an Internet search engine to see who else in the world might have the same name, they didn't expect to see an author from the US show in the results.
Anna's mum, Yoshi Egan, of Cleveland, said they were so excited to discover a children's author in West Virginia had the same name that they immediately began searching for her books in Australia.
The book Golden Delicious by Anna Egan Smucker had to be especially ordered from the US and Yoshi said Anna saved for the book herself.
"We then encouraged her to write to the author," Yoshi said.
"My husband told her not to expect a reply but she did get a reply and it came with a book signed by the author."
Yoshi said Anna the author and Anna the Year 1 Faith Lutheran College, Redlands, student have since been in touch by email several times and call each other "far away land cousins".
In an email to the Egan family in Cleveland, Anna Egan Smucker said she was "happy to have this wonderful connection" with them.
Yoshi said her daughter has since joined the writers' circle at her school and a poem she wrote was published in the school booklet, which she sent to Anna Egan in the US.
"This time Anna Egan from Cleveland is sending her published book to Anna Egan in America," Yoshi said.
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