Dev & Ollie
Dev has just unwrapped his favourite birthday present…a cool new kite! But there’s a problem. He doesn’t know how to fly it! Grandpa claims to be an expert and promises to teach Dev tomorrow but Dev is too impatient. Ollie, Dev’s magical bedtime owl, comes to the rescue. Together they set off on an action packed journey to one of the largest kite festivals in the world in Gujarat, India. The pleasure of kite flying doesn’t come easy though. Along the way, he encounters a couple of mishaps and a few bumps on the head. To his surprise, Dev has to work hard to get his hands on a kite and learn the skill of kite flying. Finally, fighting through all the hurdles, Dev emerges victorious. When he returns back home in the morning, he beats Grandpa at his own game!
Dev and Ollie books can be enjoyed by children aged 4+ from any background. They are a truly unique combination of festival experiences, hilarious adventures, and ‘virtual’ sightseeing in India. What’s more, all this is beautifully wrapped around the magical relationship of a child and his bedtime cuddly toy.
My Thoughts
Full of color, wonder and adventure even my 8 month old enjoyed the pictures as I read the story to her! I greatly enjoyed the imagination in the story as well as the little tidbits of kite knowledge dropped throughout the book.
The book is full of brightly colored, well drawn pictures giving the eyes plenty to keep them busy! Even my 6
month old was fascinated with the pictures!
I will be giving away 1 copies to 2 lucky winners!!!
About the Author
I created Dev and Ollie following a ‘light bulb’ moment at
a festival in Watford, England.
Indian by origin and having grown up in Japan, I now live
in England with my family. My upbringing has been that
of a global citizen. And after having children, I am keen
for my children to be global citizens while also to be
proud of their own culture and heritage.
As a mother of two young children and a British Indian,
I’m forever exploring ways to impart cultural knowledge
to them. Also, my children are avid readers and adding
variety to their bookshelf is something I actively work on.
My mission is for children not just to be reading well, but
to be well read. Realising that this can be easily
achieved if children can relate to the characters in a
book, Dev and Ollie were created – Dev, a cheeky,
curious and sometimes clumsy boy and Ollie his magical
bedtime cuddly owl.
What sparked their conception was an Indian cultural festival experience in England. Festivals
evoke the best of any culture! Colour, noise, excitement, family, laughter – all are perfect
ingredients for children’s stories with a universal appeal.
During my time in India from 1995 to 1999 for my undergraduate degree in computer science, I
traveled extensively within India. That’s when I experienced an array of amazing festivals.
Kite Crazy is about one such experience. One of my most cherished memories is the annual
kite festival in Gujarat, India…flying kites on the rooftop with cousins from dawn till dusk. Food,
drinks, piles of kites, everything would be planned for. We’d fight to have a go (because we had
fewer kites remaining than the number of cousins!). Then seconds later, we’d be ganging up
and competing against others on neighbouring roof terraces.
I’m working on many more Dev and Ollie books to be released soon, not just about festivals in
India, but unique festivals around the world that haven’t been discovered on an international
level…festivals that children will love to read about! In fact, I’ve had tremendous fun researching
such festivals, so much so that my bucket list now includes some of them (Tomatina Festival in
Spain and Snow & Ice Festival in China)!
