Roku and Tanza

***** CLICK HERE TO READ THE INSPIRATION BEHIND this Labor of Love book! ****

Meet Roku, a little orca who wanders off from his family.
Meet Tanza, a teenage mermaid who yearns for a new playmate.
The two soon cross each other's path and forge a delightful friendship that day--from hide and go seek to launching buoys in the air and sneaking up on a sports fishing boat! The day's activities end with Tanza bidding farewell to her new favorite friend as he reunites with his mommy and the rest of the pod as they head off into the sunset
She realizes with family is where one the most belongs and grows strong.

Published Summer 2020

Rhyme poetry storyline

42 pages

Recommended AGES: 5-10

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Concieved at 💙 The idea of Roku and Tanza was implanted in my imagination two years ago on my 3rd trip to Desolation Sound—the most majestic place on earth. The summer of 2018 was also when the saddest orca headlines hit the internet but so nearby me: the story of J35 Talequaha and her Cadk. I was so moved and even more awestruck by the deep humanity within my favorite animal that I set out to write a poem about their story.

I then drew a picture of them.

I then wanted to show my respects through humanity: since I’ve always wanted to swim with an orca, what is the closet thing to humans that could have the chance to do that?—and that WE Orca Lovers could live vicariously through?—why, a MERMAID!

So I drew a picture of that.

The picture of Tanza comforting Roku in the middle of the book was my first drawing that helped me conceive this whole story. She became like the “bridge” between human and fish—a way for us readers to also feel like we could be friends with Roku under the sea.

Altogether, I wanted to encapsulate the beauty of my travels in orca waters in the very place where J35 and her calf were and the ever-intriguing mystical mermaid through my imagination. This is what I came up with for myself, for you, for the world.

Enjoy Xx

🤍 Whitney