... a book for kids written by a Kiwi inspired by her adventures in Latino America.
Is there any message you’d like to send to Latin Americans in general?
Espero que sientan el profundo amor que tengo por cada uno de los paises por donde pasamos. Este libro y los que vienen son un relfejo del amor recibido en toda latinoamerica!
Which Latin American countries inspired your book?
The Adventures of Olive is a series, with each book taking place in a different part of Latin America. The first book, The Adventures of Olive - Olive doesn't give up, takes place in Argentina when Olive and her parents leave Buenos Aires and begin their big adventure. Buenos Aires is where I fell in love with Argentina, where I fell in love with Ernesto, where my world views would be challenged and changed, so Argentina is a big inspiration for me and for this first book.
We drove through Argentina, Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Colombia, Panáma, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. Every single one of those countries had a lesson to teach and experiences I will never forget.
Hanna is from New Zealand and is also a coffee roaster in her company El Descanso Specialty Coffee.
"I decided to move to Argentina after working in Wellington with a bunch of Argentinian's. They were fun, so I purchased a one way ticket and flew direct to Buenos Aires. I could not speak a word of Spanish and knew nothing about the place I had moved to. I made friends who 10 years later are still some of my closest friends and I met my partner, Ernesto. Ernesto and I moved back to New Zealand and I really struggled with the silence. I found it hard being back and that is when I started to write The Adventures of Olive, a series of bilingual children's books. These books mean so much to me, and hearing that other people are enjoying them absolutely fills my heart. We are illustrating the second book at the moment, so watch this space for when that comes out!"
- What inspired you to create a story about a totally foreign and often criticized country?
This is a great question! When Ernesto and I tell people about our trip in Olive, the first question is, without fail, "were you safe?" "did anything happen to you?" "was it dangerous?" The reality was that we were overwhelmed by generosity, kindness, smiles and buena onda. I know there is violence and that life is hard for many.
But what I was constantly overwhelmed by was the humanity and the generosity. People who had no reason to help us, did. People who had very little, shared what they had. In a country where everything "works" like NZ, it is very easy to forget about those small human interactions and reaching out to ask if someone needs a hand. Writing these stories were a way for me to process a really profound time.
Espero que sientan el profundo amor que tengo por cada uno de los paises por donde pasamos. Este libro y los que vienen son un relfejo del amor recibido en toda latinoamerica!
Thank you for reading :)
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