The origins of this book stemmed partly from an incessant and mischievous little girl, partly a rather doting father; and mostly a love of storytelling and fantasy that we both shared. Each night, my father would make up a story about Happi Kitti and his different adventures around the world solving problems and making friends. We would tie the corners of blankets over the ‘magical’ four poster bed with raffia string and create a castle of pillows where a queue of dolls would line the sides as a mandatory audience. It was a realm of ever-changing debatable story lines and endings that were forever a negotiation process between us. Some of my fondest memories are in that pillow castle of my childhood.

In early 2019, my father decided to write a manuscript of some of the Happi Kitti stories he remembered and sent them to me as a gift with an email stating ‘I wrote these out of my love for you, and they will always be a part of your life’. I was immensely touched and wanted to surprise him by writing the other half of the stories and getting the book fully illustrated and published. When I visited him in September 2019, something told me to not keep the surprise and to show him some of the work I had done to date, including the illustrations. I am so happy that I did, as he beamed with such warmth and glee, and was immensely excited to see the eventual finished project. Alas three weeks later he passed away, as life would have it. And this co-authored book is the gentle realisation of our final project together, beyond the grave; the physical materialisation of our dreams and a tapestry of our filial love.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book and support our commitment to charity (all profits continue to be committed to charity), here is a link to purchase on Amazon: Happi Kitti’s Adventures in Borneo and Beyond https://amzn.eu/d/9ImMb99