Diwa Tharan Sanders Archives

It was fantastic to be given a copy of Kaya’s Heart Song to review from the publishers Lantana Publishing. It is about a girl called Kaya, who lives in the Malaysian rainforest. This is her story of how she finds her own heart song. It is a heartwarming, joyful and beautiful story created by the combined talent of author Diwa Tharan Sanders and illustrator Nerina Canzi. As some of you may know I am quite used to reading and sharing wonderful stories with stunning illustrations, but there are few books I have read where the interplay between the two is so seamless it is as if they were one and the same thing.

At the start of the story Kaya has a conversation with her mother in which she explains if you quieten your mind you will find your heart song. Then she runs off to the rainforest. This instantly reminded me of how spending time in nature helps me to quieten my own mind and to centre me. I was excited by the rainforest setting of this story which were so beautifully brought to life in vibrant colour by Nerina Canzi’s illustrations. As about 20 years ago I spent 3 months in the rainforest of Borneo (Eastern Malaysia), and it brought back some memories. However, what surprised me was how this story also reminded me of our family visits to local woodlands and of being in nature, when everything else is forgotten and you are just in the moment.

Kaya follows a butterfly and it takes her into a part of the rainforest she has not been to before. Where behind closed doors she finds an abandoned colourful Elephant carousel. Kaya’s first instinct is to climb onto the carousel and to start to uncurl the vines that are wrapped around it and whilst she does so her imagination wanders and her mind quietens and it is then that she finds her heart song and as her mother said is when ‘magic happens’.

Maya’s journey into the rainforest seems to reflect the human desire to explore and seek out new things, and that when you pause you sometimes see things differently too. I love how the story brings Yoga into the outdoors and opens up new interpretations of mindfulness which will resonate with many people, but perhaps especially those that enjoy spending time outdoors.

I would highly recommend this story to everyone aged 6 to 99 years. It may be suitable for some younger children. It is a heartwarming, thoughtful story that reminds us that when we do things we enjoy and immerse our selves in the moment, so that all other things are forgotten we can find peace, but also open ourselves up to new possibilities and maybe magic.

A final note:

For some children and adults this is a story that may need re reading and exploring before its message sinks in or the reader is able to interpret it in a way that is meaningful to them. In that respect my conversations with the author Diwa Tharan Sanders for my guest post on the Kaya Heart Song blog tour helped me to explore this book and what it meant to me. You can read it here.

Read my Kaya’s Heart Song Blog Tour Interview with the author and learn some of the things that inspired her to write this great story here

Find out more about the author and illustrator and buy the book from Lantana Publishing website.

You can also order copies of the books from me at Readers that Care, and earn free books for you school at the same time.

I am delighted to welcome author Diwa Tharan Sanders as a guest on my blog Reading Pebbles today. Here are her responses to my interview questions. It was a pleasure to chat to her.

What inspired you to write a story about mindfulness?

And why is it set in the Jungles of Malaysia?

To be honest, the mindfulness theme happened ‘by accident’. What sparked my imagination for this book and inspired me was I wanted to write a story about “a girl who wanted to be happy”. And as I started dissecting what being happy meant to me, the idea of music and a heart song came up as a way of expressing true, authentic happiness, which to me comes from being in tune (no pun intended!) with your heart. Listening to the heart and coming out of the mind, is one way I would describe mindfulness.

I chose the jungle of Malaysia as a setting for the story not only because I’m Malaysian, but I also wanted to reflect where I was from a personal and creative perspective. When I wrote Kaya’s Heart Song, I was living on a beautiful tropical island with a 120-year old rainforest around us. I love being in nature and connecting to its beautiful energy, which I find inspiring, grounding and even mysterious sometimes. These elements really excited me to set a story in the jungle and I felt like there was no other setting more appropriate to do so.

Below are some pictures Diwa took in the rainforest in Malaysia, and I can see why she finds it a magical place.

Why is special about a ‘heart song’?

A heart song is special because if you consider how it’s described in the story, it creates magic! Everyone has a heart song, we just have to remember to listen to it. I imagine that a heart song is something that is unique to each person, but it also changes and can reflect what is happening in our daily life at that specific moment and the emotions one is feeling. That’s what being mindful means – being able to be in the moment and to tune in to what is going on.

I am interested in how authors and illustrators work together to co-create a picture book. When you were writing the story what sort of pictures did you imagine?

This is my first picture book and I have to say that I am incredibly lucky to have been able to work with Nerina Canzi. I had an idea of what Kaya could look like and I described that to Nerina, along with some pictures. I also shared some pictures of Malaysian rainforests with her. And to be honest, that was the extent of my creative input! I was and still are completely moved and blown away at how she captured the essence of Kaya and the story through her stunning and beautiful illustrations. They are pure magic and have brought so much inspiration and light to the story. Working with her has been an absolute blessing and joy.

You can read my review of Kaya’s Heart Song here.