How Diggy the Dino was Born:

It all started five and half years ago when my eldest son was diagnosed with congenital heart disease at six months old. With three large holes in his heart he needed open heart surgery immediately. We spent a lot of time in and out of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London weeks before the surgery and for months after the surgery. After the operation, he was lying there unable to move for days and weeks thereafter at home. I used to keep him occupied by watching videos on youtube, strolls in his pushchair and by singing to him. One day I had exhausted all efforts and was running out of ideas. Even I was fed up of the same old stuff! As I stared out of the hospital window looking at the bustling city of London, I began to make up a story about a Dinosaur with magical powers visiting London. It had to be a dinosaur because my son was and is still obsessed with all thing’s dinosaurs. This is when and how Diggy the Dino was born.

How the Idea of a Children’s Book was Born:

My son is now fit and healthy, thankfully. As he continues to grow, he still asks for the same story over and over again. Now my younger son also enjoys Diggy’s adventures. The more my boys enjoyed the stories, the more creative I got and moved Diggy to different places. I tried to add an educational element to each story so they can learn fun facts at the same time. I wrote down some of the story’s years ago, just so I could be lazy and read them off my phone. Being in full-time work with two kids at home didn’t leave me with much time to focus on anything else. It was only during the lockdown I began to think how nice it would be for my words to have pictures with it. I began to like the idea of having a small piece of my creativity out there in the world for other children to enjoy or simply just for my boys to enjoy. I knew my boys would enjoy Diggy and his magical stomp coming to life. This is how the idea of a children’s book was born.

How the Book Came to Life:

During the pandemic I had several ups and downs with various illustrators. Sometimes even getting the book 50-60% complete and then changing illustrators. Other times work and homelife was too tiring to focus on the book in the little spare time I had. I gave up on the book several times and would go months without dedicating any time to it. Especially as it was so difficult to find someone who could see my vision and put it on paper. Working full-time, juggling schedules for two kids and other social commitments made it hard to drive this project forward. After closing the chapter on the book idea (no pun intended!), by chance I came across Chan, an illustrator. She had made a post on Instagram which I could relate to and I left her a like and message. From that we started talking and in conversation she mentioned how much she loved London and Dinosaurs! It was a no brainer and I felt I could finally rely on someone to complete my book! She had never done books before, but I could see how talented she was and how perfect she would be for my book. She was happy to collaborate with me. After this came months and months of hard work to get to this final product. And this is how the actual book came to life for children to read, enjoy and learn some fun facts about various topics time and time again.

Thank-O-Saurus:

I thank God for allowing me to turn every parent’s worst nightmare into a beautiful end story. A huge thanks to the three (1 big and 2 little) men in my life and my friends (you know who you are) for this incredible journey you have supported and guided me through. A special thanks to Chan for taking on something you were not used to and believing in my story. I will always be grateful for this chance to do something different from the norm of 9-5 and turn a horrible situation in to one that has become a lasting positive memory.

And lastly a huge-o-saurus thanks to YOU – for buying this book and supporting my story! I hope you enjoy this book and my other books to come! Happy Reading to you and your little ones!

━ Shiva