Jungle Theatre Company is a NPO that creates and performs theatre based on African folktales for children. This book is based on one of their plays.

It all started with me wanting to write an animated film for a local competition. I’d always admired the work Jungle Theatre did, so I suggested to my friend Vincent Meyburgh (the artistic director) to create a story around one of their plays and enter the contest with me. We dived in with a fierce excitement like we’d already won, and developed an expanded concept, deviating from the source material just enough to make it fresh. We ended up with an exciting story for the film, but it seems it wasn’t quite ready to be made. So we didn’t win.

The story stuck with me though, and it developed and expanded over the next few years, sometimes all on its own, until it all clicked in to place and I found myself writing a book. So essentially, this is a book based on a film based on a play.

I am very grateful to the team at Jungle Theatre Company for being so open to my ideas, and for all the work they do connecting and inspiring young minds in South Africa. A percentage of each book sold go directly to supporting their activities so that they can continue to share and spread their magic.

To find out more about them, visit jungletheatre.co.za