Want to do good, bag yourself a beautiful collector’s book for Christmas, and back the next series kids vote their favourite (canine) wizard?
Who? Why?
I’ve been a self-funded, self-publisher of art history books for over ten years. Within that same period we’ve witnessed the world become more divided, but I also see every day, first-hand how the arts can work to positively reverse this trend. Working with The British Council, I’ve taken a British artist to art academies in China and share their insights to many curious students as just one example. Now I have a more ambitious plan…
The lessons of history show us that contact with the arts, other cultures, and creativity leads to greater prosperity. This rings even more true today as we face an ever-expanding global population and fewer jobs, not least with the advent of AI.
Featuring my real-life dog Tinkie as the icon, I decided to use my writing and research skills and the artistry of an incredible up-coming British artist and my friend, Edward Luper, to create a series of illustrated children’s books that explore all world cultures - and what we can learn from each other. Edward, whose artwork was recently featured at The Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition, lends his very special illustrative style to this charming series with friends modelling as various human characters including the lovely Nancy Walker as Lily! Preparations have already been made for the foreign languages or for the translation of the series into other languages. The Mandarin addition is coming out Chinese new year 2025, translated by Michelle Feng.
When I started this journey over four years ago I thought I had a decent knowledge of art history, but I have learnt much, much more. It’s given me not only bucket-loads of joy, but even confidence to be able to break the ice with someone I’ve just met about the traditions of their country. I’d like you and any kids you know to experience that same joy and satisfaction of learning, all in an easy bedtime read.
The Stories:
From the caves of Altamira in Spain 36,000 years ago to fighting samurai learning to talk over tea in Kyoto in 1582 to Mali’s Mansa Musa, the wealthiest person to have ever lived, investing in education in Timbuktu, Tinkie, a globe-trotting, feisty little pug, her gentle friend of the human kind, Lily, and a comic cast of characters (canine and human) take us on a creative journey around the world, learning how to overcome a challenge or fear along the way.
Set in a future where the dog-human language barrier has been broken, Tinkie, the first dog in history to win a scholarship to Oxford, and Lily are first year students. They soon become firm friends and college roommates. Tinkie has a secret she has just been waiting to share: a magical tablet that allows her to time-travel to any culture in any place with anyone she chooses - to uncover the origin of every cultural custom we know.
While Tinkie and her friends travel back in time, each story is set firmly in the modern world by featuring contemporary ethical and social issues, as well as overcoming obstacles like bullying, self-consciousness, or a fear of the dark.
Who’s it for?
This animated adventure aims to equip children and their carers with the experience of wonder, connection and belonging. Moreover, it offers the self-affirming power of creativity in our increasingly AI-catapulted world.
The series promotes:
- Empathy
- Tolerance
- Self-reliance
- Ethnic diversity
- Resourcefulness
- Communication skills
- A Rounded education
- Creative problem-solving
- Knowledge of deep history
- Making connections in our shared humanity
It’s always fun to say you were first…
For GBP 20, the cost of printing (plus £5 of shipping for delivery outside the United Kingdom and China), you will receive the Collector’s Edition of the first, colour-plate illustrated, hardback book of the series, paw-printed by Tinkie, the actual dog behind this original series. The novelty alone for children is sure to be a winner, and the perfect gift for Christmas…
Featuring the unlikely hero of Dinkie, a clumsy but lovable cousin come to stay who wants to overcome a fear he has found impossible to shake off. Until now…
Limited to 800 copies with an embossed linen cover, “Tinkie and the Cave of Shadows” has been tipped by editors to be the first canine-equivalent of Harry Potter. Tinkie solemnly swears that she is up to only good!
Friends as loyal as Fido!
No matter how high quality the publication, marketing is obviously key. We sure are lucky to have friends who have offered to help support us in this.
We will be supplying the handful of excess copies of our first print run to marketing agents, book retailers, educators we have worked with over the years, as well as children’s retailers.
(Left: Scott, pictured with Usher, being presented the Q Prize by Quincy Jones)
Who doesn’t like a cherry on the cake for charity? Help move children out of the dark into the light…
Last, but certainly not least, we will be donating twenty books to a November fundraising auction in celebration of the 20th anniversary The Cambodia Children’s Fund, one of the few charities to receive the highest rating from Charity Navigator, the world’s largest charity watchdog. It’s a rating CCF has upheld for fourteen consecutive years and is given to organisations who “exceed industry standards and out-perform most charities in its cause.”
Founded by Scott Neeson in 2004, CCF has transformed thousands of the most impoverished kids into gainfully employed, independent adults, many of whom have gone on to tertiary education. Scott’s first major award for his work in Cambodia came just 3 years after he founded CCF when he received the Harvard School of Public Health’s inaugural “Q Prize”, a prestigious award created to recognize international leadership in advocacy for children. CCF was furthermore the first in Southeast Asia to be recognized by the Qatar Foundation for its “transformative impact on education and society.” And the awards keep coming…
“In a world of fallen heroes, Scott shines as one of those very rare individuals who “walks the talk”. He is fearless and his selfless, remarkable commitment to children in the developing world represents a genuine profile in courage. Thank you, brother, you are a hero, now and always.”
— Quincy Jones, musician, record producer and humanitarian
https://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org
Be part of the story
I am 45 and would gladly spend the rest of my life dedicated to this project. Editors love Tinkie’s travels because it is a replicable model (I have three more adventure stories with editors) and it is cross-media across a APP, TV/ Netflix and merchandise. I would certainly like to keep supporting children’s educational charities through this initiative and through the awareness it raises. I appreciate it’s a team effort to make that a reality.
In supporting the first book, you will be a participant and founding contributor to the beginning of a wider project for the next generation to be inspired by intelligence, understand each other better, and replace criticism with creativity, judgment with joy.
With the content for the APP already created over the past three years, the scenography for a TV/ Netflix series in the making, and a little help from friends old and new, we may just get Tinkie to be a new kind of children’s Hollywood heroine one day..
And who knows, you might earn a valuable heirloom if more people know about these stories and kids vote Tinkie the best canine wizardry in history!
We are small, but…
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If you have any questions, please email Nancy at: [email protected] with subject marked Tinkie!