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This particular book was inspired by my father. He was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii.
As a child, I really did spend many summers going to Hawaii with my grandmother to visit family there. My uncle had a huge mango tree in his backyard, and he would let me pick them just as the girl in the story does. I wanted a children's book that brought out fantasy and imagination for children, as well as taught them something. I have a love for animals and nature, and so I decided to combine trees and animals. My intention is to create a series that will always relate to personal experiences with a different kind of tree and the animals that inhabit them. I was raised in the central coast of California, and so my next book will be about oak trees as our property had many of them as did the surrounding area. I am still contemplating which animal I will choose.
Lani's character is inspired by me as a child hanging out in Hawaii. She is a dreamer with a great imagination as I hope all children have. She is also very curious and has a thirst for knowledge, again a hope I want to inspire in children. The bat family characters all have very different character traits, but as a family unit, I think children will find them fun and easy to relate to.
The message is simple. Use your imagination, dreaming is a good thing, be curious, and go learn from it, and it is OK that things in life are not always permanent. It just might mean there is something better around the corner, so don't stop looking.
Mahalo.
