This weekend was an exciting one for me as I took my debut picture book The Problem with Poppy to London! On Friday, my publisher and I met up with Andy Fisher, co-owner of The Happy Learning Company (THLC). The company were the official sponsor of The Problem with Poppy and gave a very generous donation towards the book’s production, which made all the difference to our Kickstarter campaign. So it was really important that we saw Andy personally and thanked him properly for his support.

It was great to give him 20 signed copies of the book that they’d helped us create, and Andy seemed very impressed with the final product. I also handed him a framed Rainforest Trust UK certificate for him to hang in THLC’s office to show that they have saved a whopping 50 acres of rainforest! Andy kindly gave me a bottle of champagne to celebrate the book’s publication, and he was very interested to hear more about the next book in the Sumatran Trilogy, What’s Troubling Tawny?, which we are working on as we speak. I also have some other exciting collaborations on the horizon with the company – so watch this space!

The following day, I met Vicky Wallace, Fundraising Manager at Rainforest Trust UK (RTUK). One of my proudest moments in my life as a children’s author so far was when Vicky told me that the Trust would be happy to partner with us on The Problem with Poppy, and it was so satisfying to hand her some complementary copies of the book and to see her face as she flicked through it! She was very positive about what she saw, and I’m thrilled that RTUK will be continuing to partner with Full Media on What’s Troubling Tawny? That means we will be donating £1 per book sale to the Trust for that book, too, and I’m so pleased that we are able to help save the rainforests and the animals that inhabit them, while entertaining and educating kids at the same time.

My trip to London came to a very poetic end when I reached Leicester Square Station and spotted a very aptly named pub next door to it. I couldn’t resist taking some photos of the pub’s sign before stopping for a well-earned drink! 🙂