Having lived in Kenya for some years Veronica’s parents returned to the U.K. with her when she was six months old. During her childhood she was captivated by the fascinating stories they told her of their time in Africa and her heart was filled with a boundless love of all creatures great and small.
When she returned to Kenya almost forty years later she felt as if she had “come home” and her love for the continent she barely knew just felt stronger. On another visit to Tanzania she recalls “When we came into land on a dirt runway I witnessed a journey of giraffe strolling elegantly along the airstrip, a family of warthogs scampering between their legs. “One in particular caught my eye and Happiness was born”.
She recently wrote the story ‘My Name is Happiness’:
Happiness, our heroine, is a warthog piglet; clever, caring and courageous. She lives on a game reserve in Africa and is the narrator of our tale. Happiness is out one day with her family when her brother is snatched by a lioness, and in the ensuing panic to escape the same fate she is caught in a poacher's trap. Her human friend Peter, The Head Ranger, rescues her and takes her back to his animal sanctuary to recuperate. At Weaver House Animal Sanctuary Happiness makes many wild and wonderful friends and when she learns that some of them have lost loved ones to poachers she is determined to help put an end to this cruel practice. She concocts two wildly imaginative schemes and with the help of her new friends and a full moon she sets out on her daring mission. Even little warthog piglets can help to change the world...
‘My Name is Happiness’, from Brown Dog Books, is available now: https://amzn.to/2O1C1mi.
I had a chance to interview her to learn more.
Why did you decide to write this book?My father was a wonderful story teller. Both he and my mother told me about their time in Africa and all the wild animals they had seen. I fell in love with them from photographs, storybooks, zoos (I’m ashamed to say) and television. It was years before I went back to Africa to see them for myself. During the last ten to twenty years the news has become increasingly flooded with stories of animals close to extinction and whilst I was caring for my elderly parents I had time to sit down and write - so I did. In short I just couldn’t sit by and watch these truly magnificent creatures die out. It is very distressing that this is happening, mainly due to us humans, and apart from donating to charities I felt helpless.
My hope, with the help of ‘Happiness’, is to engage other young minds about the urgency of conserving animals, their habitat and the crucial role both play in sustaining our planet.
How can kids get involved in protecting endangered animals and the environment?
Now that so many children are being made aware of climate change, deforestation and conservation I think they are really keen to help and literally can do something. Schools can encourage this through art; painting, cartoons, pottery, poems, stories. Short lessons in history and geography could be steered towards conservation encouraging children to write their own essays on the matter, write or talk to their locals newspapers, get on local TV stations, write to National Geographic etc.
Why did you choose Happiness for the story? I chose Happiness because I love pigs, they are really clever and the way warthogs in particular rush around looking so busy amuses me. Obviously Happiness is particularly special - she caught my eye on the runway coming into land in a small aircraft. She wouldn’t stand still to chat for long and is really hard to catch...
About the Author:
Veronica studied at The London College of Fashion graduating with Distinction and after a short spell working for a top British milliner decided on a path in Haute Couture. She designed for a specialist fashion house in Knightsbridge and on the owner’s retirement continued to design under her own label.
When expecting her first child she decided to close the business down and focus on her family, still finding time to do various charitable works, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (reaching the top on Christmas Day 1995) to raise funds for Anti-Slavery International.
Veronica recently returned from another trip to Africa where she was privileged to observe rhino, leopard, elephant, cheetah and wild dogs. Her party was asked not to put the whereabouts of these endangered species on social media to help protect them from poaching.
She and her husband divide their time between London and Exmoor.
Why did you choose Happiness for the story? I chose Happiness because I love pigs, they are really clever and the way warthogs in particular rush around looking so busy amuses me. Obviously Happiness is particularly special - she caught my eye on the runway coming into land in a small aircraft. She wouldn’t stand still to chat for long and is really hard to catch...
About the Author:
Veronica studied at The London College of Fashion graduating with Distinction and after a short spell working for a top British milliner decided on a path in Haute Couture. She designed for a specialist fashion house in Knightsbridge and on the owner’s retirement continued to design under her own label.
When expecting her first child she decided to close the business down and focus on her family, still finding time to do various charitable works, including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (reaching the top on Christmas Day 1995) to raise funds for Anti-Slavery International.
Veronica recently returned from another trip to Africa where she was privileged to observe rhino, leopard, elephant, cheetah and wild dogs. Her party was asked not to put the whereabouts of these endangered species on social media to help protect them from poaching.
She and her husband divide their time between London and Exmoor.
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