Naomi Berman likes to identify herself first as a mom. Apart from that, she used to be a primary school teacher and is now studying a psychology degree in the hopes of becoming a psychologist in the future. A part of the reason she finds psychology interesting is because she herself wants to be a better mom and provide her service towards the younger generation as well.
Most of her work is thus geared towards the positive growth of children. Her latest book, ‘The Adventures of Sparkles and Pandy: Sparkles and Pandy Go to Galle’ published by The Jam Fruit Tree Publications is the second book of her series of ‘The Adventures of Sparkles and Pandy’, the first book being, ‘Sparkles and Pandy Go to Yala’. “I used to read a lot of stories for my daughter, but very few books were based locally in Sri Lanka.
I also wanted to teach her something through these stories. And combine the beauty and uniqueness of Sri Lanka along with the story,” said Naomi. In Naomi’s previous book of the series which was based on Yala, she talks about loving animals and the importance of protecting them.
When she started, Naomi mentioned how there were very few resources, since English children’s books based in Sri Lanka were scarce. “When we talk about Disneyland and other places in children’s stories, these are places that most children and parents can’t afford to go to,” noted Naomi. “My purpose is to create something that children in Sri Lanka can relate to and visit.
” Inspiration The character of Sparkles is inspired by her own daughter who enjoys travelling and experiencing new things, and Naomi initially wrote this book for her. When asked about the story behind Pandy, Naomi recalled how a visitor gifted her daughter a panda soft toy and how she named it “Pandy”. To this day, her daughter goes to sleep with it and wherever she goes, she brings Pandy with her.
Naomi mentioned how her daughter is very attached to it and would not want another panda soft toy as well. “My daughter is very proud and excited about this book. I want this book and my work to inspire her and for her to think that she can do anything she sets her mind to as well,” said Naomi.
When Naomi was sixteen, she moved to Singapore. She found herself in a new environment and a new country and felt rather lonely without her friends. This is when her journaling took off.
She has always written since then, including poetry, and writing gradually became a huge part of her life. “From my experience, most children have a short attention span, so these stories need to be short and engaging,” she highlighted. As a teacher and a mom, she also wanted this book to talk about our history, the Portuguese, and the Galle heritage site.
She always believed that children are very smart and need to know such facts about their country. “When people ask me at what age they should start reading to their children, I always say, since they are born,” said Naomi. Naomi likes to write from her experiences and from my heart, and therefore to her, the writing process is very easy and genuine.
She hopes that through these stories, these experiences can be shared as well. “Because experiences are important for my writing, it’s important for me to actually get that experience with my daughter. This is very much needed in The Adventures of Sparkles and Pandy series.
It has to be an experience that a child can actually get if they want to.Therefore, this also can be quite challenging sometimes,” said Naomi. Dying art She also wanted to have children get excited about our country since Sri Lanka has much to offer.
She also observed that reading tangible books among children is also a dying art in Sri Lanka and that children nowadays would rather buy something more expensive than a book. For her, one speciality about this book is being able to introduce Shadow, their dog, and mentioned how she’s hoping to incorporate Shadow in her future books as well whenever she can. And something else very special about these books are the memories she creates with her daughter and family prior to the creation of the book.
The whole experience of going to Galle, sitting on the rampart, eating gelato and buying isso wade was precious and memorable to her. The series of ‘The Adventures of Sparkles and Pandy’, generally showcases natural beauty, culture and the diversity of people. The author is hoping to visit eight more locations with her daughter, hence eight more books to come and complete it as a ten book series.
“They may not remember the details of where they went or the experiences they had, but they will remember how it felt,” she said. Major challenge One major challenge Naomi faced when creating this book is finding an illustrator that could create the illustrations in a way that matches the kind of style she was looking for. Therefore, she took her time and put a lot of thought in looking for a suitable illustrator.
Through a friend’s company, “The Design Atelier”, she was thus able to find the perfect illustrator for this book, Binusha Perera. “I am grateful to them for finding the illustrator and it was an absolute pleasure working with both of them,” she said. Naomi hopes to write books for the elder children based on social issues that aren’t much spoken about in Sri Lanka.
“The world is changing and we are learning new things that we weren’t aware of as children ourselves. We have to be supportive and open-minded to talk about these issues with our children because at the end of the day, all that we want as parents and elders is for our children to lead happy lives. And also to create a safe place for them to be their authentic selves,” Naomi explained.
She hopes this series of ‘Sparkles and Pandy’ would unlock their excitement for Sri Lanka and get to experience it themselves, leading them to talk highly about their country and open up their passion for travel in Sri Lanka as well. She also hopes they would also learn something about ethnic unity and the beauty of diversity. “Through my books, I want the children to be aware, cultivate love for their country, make the parents think and have the children ask them the important questions as well,” said the author.
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