Kaya’s Heart Song by Diwa Tharan Sanders and Nerina Canzi 

Kaya is looking for her heart song – the song that happy hearts sing. Her search takes her on a journey deep into the jungle where a broken down carousel waits for a very special song to make it turn again…

I’m thrilled to be hosting this stop on the blog tour for Kaya’s Heart Song by Diwa Tharan Sanders, illustrated by Nerina Canzi. This beautifully illustrated and joyous story focuses on Kaya’s adventure to find her heart song and share her magical journey with all around her! I’m talking to the author Diwa Tharan Sanders, a Malaysian author of Indian-Filipino heritage. At a young age, Diwa discovered that writing gave her the freedom to be as bold, funny or as clever as she dared. As an adult, Diwa finds newfound freedom in using heart and spirit to capture the minds and imaginations of young readers everywhere.

Congratulations on your beautiful story Kaya’s Heart Song! Tell us about your inspiration for writing it.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to write a children’s book that delivered an inspirational message in a manner that children could related to. I also felt that in order to do so, I had to tap into my own inner child to tell a story that was either from experience or close to my heart. Kaya’s Heart Song is a reflection of both these things. At the time of writing, I was going through a re-birth of careers, if you like. I had moved out of the city, left the 9-to-5 grind and suddenly found myself with the time and space to do everything and also nothing. Having this luxury and freedom was in itself a journey of self-discovery and so when I started writing this story (it’s actually the fourth in a series of other stories I had written about Kaya), I poured what I was experiencing at the time into it. And through this process of discovering my own heart song, Kaya’s Heart Song came to form. Because I was living on a beautiful tropical island and spending my time in amongst trees and nature these elements were naturally reflected in my book.

The story is centred on the ideas of mindfulness and how to get to a place of self-awareness. Why did you want to write about this for children? It’s interesting that the idea of mindfulness is the centre of my book as that was not my original intention. I wanted to tell a story of being true to your heart and following the beat of your own drum. And in that process and I suppose as I fell into my own heart’s desires in order to write the book, this story about mindfulness revealed itself. I think it’s wonderful for children to have an awareness of being mindful because it’s important for everyone to make a conscious choice to slow down, take a breath and just allow – anything and everything to be. Anything cultivated from a young age, usually continues as we grow and so learning about mindfulness – whether its about being able to acknowledge how you’re feelings in the present moment, observing the present moment in silence, or pausing to take a few deep breaths – are all powerful tools that keep us grounded, balanced and more connected to ourselves.

The magical elephant carousel is beautiful! Is there significance in choosing elephants for the children to ride on? I’m glad you think so! I love it too, Nerina did a wonderful job. Well, I chose to include elephants because I love them. We have elephants in Malaysia and to me, they symbolise strength, wisdom and protection. Carousels have always reminded me of my childhood; they’re fun, magical and whimsical. So marrying these two seemed like an appropriate way to introduce elements that reminded me of the joys of being a young child, while keeping an Asian relevance to the story.

Your story is brought to life with amazing illustrations. Tell us about working with an illustrator. I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Nerina’s illustrations. As a first-time author, I feel incredibly lucky to have been paired with such an amazing illustrator. Nerina truly brought magic to my words through her illustrations. The process was very smooth and such a delight, to be honest. Once we had Kaya’s character nailed down, every single drawing that I saw after was truly so spot on, so beautiful and so special. I was in tears when I saw the first few illustrations, because she captured the essence of Kaya and the story so perfectly, I couldn’t have dreamed it better myself. I loved working with Nerina and although we haven’t even met in person (yet!) I feel like I’ve built a connection with her through this process.

I noticed in the dedication you mention your father and reading. Can you tell us about the stories you enjoyed as a child? Wow, this question is taking me a long way back! Well, I spent most of my formative years in Boston, Massachusetts so I guess my favourite books are flavoured by growing up there.

I enjoyed reading stories about characters that were uncommon or not people, who were curious and courageous and anything that was set in nature and had adventure, magic or human relationships (although I didn’t really understand them at that age) in them. Some of my favourite stories growing up in Boston include Curious George, Bread and Jam for Frances, The Little House, Strega Nona and Where The Wild Things Are.

It’s wonderful to hear the story behind Kaya’s Heart Song and your inspiration and experience as a writer.  Thank you and we wish you every success with Kaya!

For more information please visit www.lantanapublishing.com

With thanks to Lantana Publishing for inviting me to participate in this blog tour! Discover the rest of the tour on these brilliant blogs: