It turns out that the practice of creating something everyday, is one of the habits that I like to live my life by… but it has been busy lately, really busy. I am no longer in the season of sitting around the kitchen table creating art projects with my kids. It turns out that homeschooling little kids really is only for a time. Life-learning, however is forever, while I have been drifting aimlessly, from one arty moment to the next, I realise that it is time to reclaim my arty mojo.

1. Get those ART materials out and Within Reach.

For years our art materials lay out on the kitchen table, and in wild moments of tidying up, they landed on the kitchen counter. But… and it is a terrible but, for a while they were put out of the way and nobody touched them. Not that big of a surprise… When my kids were small I made sure that we had fabulous art materials out and ready to use… there were no limits, they were kept sorted, and re-arranged from time to time. The whole vibe was appealing. Art materials are now back on my desk, and they are ready to use and I am delighted to say that they are ready to distract me from any task I am “meant” to be doing.


2. Activity Books are Easy Ways to Practice Art Everyday.

Activity Books are just as great for kids as they are for adults. The trick is, don’t store them on a shelf, rather leave them lying around next to a jar of markers. I have dozens of them, and lately I have really enjoyed dipping into Lorna Scobie’s series of 365 Days…



These books are playful and fun, and you can work in them with whatever you have at hand… dashed in your beach bag, use a biro; on your desk with all the materials, use all the materials – the paper is firm enough for markers, watercolours, wax crayons, you name it!!!

3. Subscribe to Arty Inspiration.

I have followed friends online for years, who subscribe to art boxes… and just lately I have found a local creator who is creating the most stunning art boxes. These boxes from Your Muse are packed with very different activities and different artists to learn about. I love them, each box contains a few themed projects, perfect for tackling with a cup of coffee, before your day gets out of hand. They really do deserve their own blog post… so watch this space.


4. Read Books that Inspire You.

Anything by Austen Kleon, is fun and very easy reading. Short, sharp books, that look like they need to be grabbed and read, wherever you are… they are packed with loads of inspiration to keep on practicing, whatever your art is!!! If you are looking for notebook inspiration, then this is definitely a great place to start.


5. Visit Galleries to fill Your Art Bucket.

There is nothing more inspiring than stoping by a gallery, a great big city centre gallery, or a coffee shop gallery. You are bound to find something that you love… look a little closer in the gallery and you might even find postcards of the artworks in the collection… start your own collection in your art journal, to remind you of works that inspired you and that you enjoyed. Google the artist, you will be surprised to see what else they have been up to, and check them out on instagram.


6. Use the Algorithm: to fill your feed with Art!!!

Turns out that the more you look at something on instagram the more you will see, I purposefully follow and interact with several artists online and this has ensured that instead of having several negative things thrown in my face on the daily, my scroll time is filled with creative friends making easy and accessible art… look for the hashtag #inktober that is coming up and there will be loads of daily art prompts throughout October.



I love following Max Romey on Trailboundsketches on his adventures, Andrea.Nelson.Art always has something on the go, and kept me moving through July, with her summer sketchbook. I can’t ever get enough of the Wild Wonder Foundation, and I am following along with snippets from their annual conference and so many many MANY online lessons!!! There are so many more arty folk online, go and fill your insta feed with a whole lot of Joy!!!

7. Attend a Workshop.

These are so much fun, challenge yourself to try something new, by attending a workshop you don’t have to buy all the gear until you have tried it… in fact, its almost worth attending the workshop to see if you enjoy it first.



Most galleries have monthly workshops that folk can attend, and if there is something new that you would like to try, google classes in your city. you will be surprised to discover a whole world of novice artists, waiting to try something new.

So just start… fifteen minutes a day is not too big an ask, find something to create, doodle, draw… just start. Let your mind wander, and that fifteen minutes may well turn into something longer and it may inspire those around you, to join you for some arty fun too.

Two delightful picture books and a chapter book from Jonathan Ball Publishers… have been waiting patiently on my desk fr reviews… here they are, in all their glory!!!

This is a lovely bouncy rhyming story about all the farm animals that steal the farmer’s clothes. One by one they steal his entire wardrobe, until the farmer has nothing left.

These books were given to us for review purposes by Jonathan Ball Publishers. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely our own.

Paul Kalanithi spends the first part of the book training to be a neurosurgeon, and the overwhelmingly hard work of being a medical intern. As he trains long and difficult hours and has to come to terms with treating patients that don’t have a good prognosis. And then he receives his own cancer diagnosis and in a moment he crosses over from medical professional to patient. This second part of the book is devoted to his journey… and the epilogue, written by his wife, Lucy Kalanithi, is the part of the book I enjoyed the most. You know from the start that this book is going to be sad, it was… for so many reasons. This is poignant book and if you enjoy memoirs, it is a must read.

It’s been exactly a year since I swam this route… I loved it so much, and I think it deserves a place on the blog. It definitely should be on everyone

Most people when they venture into open water swimming off the Cape coast, start with a Robben Island Crossing. It is a big deal… it is out in the big ocean, it’s a solid 8km and it is properly hard, especially if you don’t catch a sunny day and the you don’t have a glorious view of Table Mountain. The first question folk ask after that is: What’s next? And most think that a swim around Cape Point is the next best thing… It is!!! That’s exactly what I did, no regrets, it is a stunning swim.

Miller’s to Fish Hoek is touted as a 10k swim and it stole my heart. If you know me, then you know that I am always looking for a 10k swim…

Anja Stoeckigt is a very familiar illustrator to South African Picture Book readers…

Paper Tales is a wordless picture book, perfect for South African children in every language!!! It is the story of three feisty gals, who are delightfully bored. Until… A pile of papers come flying by…

1. Tell us a little bit about your writing journey. How did you become a writer? Did you always want to become a writer?

So I am definitely more of an illustrator that fell into the author role, and maybe that is why my first book is a mostly wordless book. I find that illustrations can speak louder than words sometimes and with this book I wanted the child to be the author and use their imagination and come up with their own storylines and ideas. So no, I did not always want to become a writer, images and pictures are my first love.



2. Who or what do you think had the biggest impact on you becoming a writer?

I think people like Oliver Jeffers and Albert Arrayas, who create the most beautiful and funny stories compel me to want to produce things of the same caliber. I also had a need inside of me to create this story and I wanted the world to see its beauty.

3. Tell us about your work style: Are you compelled to write when inspiration strikes or disciplined, or do you just squeeze it in whenever you can?

My inspiration usually starts with an image and an idea and grows from there. It can be anything as small as two dogs sniffing each other’s bums to a leaf tumbling from the sky that inspires me. And usually this strikes in the early hours of the morning, while my husband is still snoring contentedly next to me. So I have to creep out of bed and write down my ideas in the freezing cold, while trying not to wake the household. This is usually how I start my days.



4. Where do you work best? On the couch at a desk? While you are at it, tell us about your dream workday.

Usually either at my desk or snuggled up in my bed with a cup of hot chocolate and my notebook. My dream workday is to create all day, whether it be writing, drawing or my latest passion printing; unencumbered by anyone until my stomach tells me that I have worked long enough and it is time for a break. I love losing myself in my work.

5. I love your characters, they are so full of life, where did you find them? Where do you get your inspiration to create them?

I often base one of them on myself (the bear girl is based on my own character) and the others are often loosely based on friends and their character traits. So I watch and observe the people around me and then take snippets from real life and put that into my characters.



6. What made researching for this book great, did you get to do any interesting interviews or visit any unusual places?

I googled a lot of origami images and fell in love with the imagery and history of it. I also folded A LOT of origami birds. And the wave in the book for example is based on the famous Japanese painting “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”, so I like to hide little easter eggs like that in my art.


7. Do you have something to tell our followers who think that they might have a book inside of them, a word of encouragement or some advice?

If you think you have an idea brewing inside of you, explore it, write it down, read it out loud, ask for help, play around with different versions, be open to positive advice and just go for it. When you are passionate about something it will shine through and your love for it will show!



8. And where can our readers find you?

Instagram – @paper_tales
And on my website: www.papertales.co.za

This book was beautifully packaged and given to us for review purposes by Penguin Random House South Africa. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely our own.

Penny Haw has been writing biographies about Women in Science for the past few years, and I love them. These are great reads on a topic close to my heart. She is rewriting “hidden history” one incredible scientist at a time…

Easy reading, thoroughly enjoyable stories and altogether great…

1. The Invincible Miss Cust: This is the true story of Miss Cust, who gave up everything, including her name, to go and get her veterinarian degree at Edinburgh University (an English University would not have her).
2. The Woman at the Wheel: The Woman at the Wheel, is the wild story of Bertha Benz, who was such a disappointment to her parents, because “she was only a girl” and went on to pioneer the invention of the horseless carriage.
3. Follow me to the Africa: This book is about the archaeologist, Mary Leakey, who under the shadow of her much more famous husband, developed into a world renowned archaeologist in her own right, despite her non-academic education.
4. The Woman and her Stars:

The story of the Caroline Herschell, the astronomer.

These books were published by Penguin Random House, South Africa. I bought my copy of the Woman and the Stars at Liberty Books in Grabouw.

It is Marine Protected Area Day and the perfect day to talk about a new book for children about the area we live in… surrounded by sea and glorious kelp forests and ocean wildlife. The South Peninsula is the perfect location for an adventurous children’s book.

The book is about a young boy called Ben, who lives in the South Peninsula. Ben loves kayaking in the sea, and spends a lot of time on the water, heading out to the lighthouse at Roman Rock.

It is a really wonderful, heartwarming, easy reading chapter book. The story is interesting and engaging. The illustrations, by the author, are delightful… an all round wonderfully giftable local book for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Tell us a little bit about your writing journey. How did you become a writer? Did you always want to become a writer?

I think I was always a writer, even before I knew what to call it. I grew up telling stories to my baby brother before bed, making up worlds and characters as I went. And before I could even write them down myself, my mom would transcribe them for me as I told them to her. So in a way, my writing journey started very young, in the most informal and lovely way possible.

I wrote stories throughout my teens too, but only began taking writing seriously around 2021. That was the year I made a decision that children’s books were what I wanted to pursue with everything I had.

Right after school, I worked in many different roles in the EdTech space, which later helped me pursue my own career path. Looking back, I can see how everything, even when it wasn’t obvious, helped get me to where I am now.

Who or what do you think had the biggest impact on you becoming a writer?

My mom, without a doubt. She fostered such a deep love of reading and storytelling in me from the very beginning. She took me to the library every single week, she transcribed my very first stories, and she always made me feel like the things I wanted to create mattered.

Beyond that, the children’s books I grew up reading shaped me enormously. I have always been obsessed with beautiful picture books and middle grade stories. The best ones made me feel seen and transported at the same time, and that is exactly what I want to do for readers.

Tell us about your work style: Are you compelled to write when inspiration strikes or disciplined, or do you just squeeze it in whenever you can?

Honestly a bit of all three depending on the season! When I am in the thick of a manuscript I try to be quite disciplined about showing up every day, even when I am having to look a bit harder for inspiration. I have learned that you cannot wait for everything to be perfect before getting it done.

There are also seasons where life is full, maybe I am deep in an illustration project, and I am squeezing writing in wherever I can. I think that is just the reality of being both a writer and an illustrator.

That said, I do have a notes folder on my phone that I am constantly adding to. I tend to get inspiration at random times, usually when I am out and about in nature.

Where do you work best? On the couch at a desk? While you are at it, tell us about your dream workday.

For deep focus work I love being at my desk, surrounded by my favourite children’s books and artwork on the walls. My window looks out into our garden and I often find myself watching our chickens scratching at the grass just outside, which is honestly a very effective form of procrastination.

That said, there are absolutely times I work on the couch, especially during illustration work when I like having a documentary or series on in the background. When I was working on The Boy and the Whale Shark I watched a lot of nature documentaries, things like Our Planet, which felt completely fitting for the story I was telling.

My dream workday starts with a walk around our local common with my dogs, which doubles as a way to get into the creative zone before sitting down. Then a morning and afternoon of deep work on something I genuinely cannot wait to create. My favourite feeling in the world is being so excited about a project that it is on my mind before I fall asleep and pulls me out of bed the next morning. That kind of excitement is what I try to chase with everything I make.

I love your characters, they are so full of life, where did you find them? Where do you get your inspiration to create them?

Ben came from me, really. He carries a lot of my own childhood experience of feeling different and wishing I could change something about myself that I had no control over. I was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of five, and that shaped so much of how I moved through the world growing up. Ben’s feelings are very much my own feelings.

Whale sharks have always been my favourite sea animal, and they worked so perfectly in this story. They also have spots, just like Ben, and there is such a gentleness about them that felt exactly right for the friendship I wanted to build.

I find that basing characters on real people, or in this case on myself and drawing on real character traits, helps create characters that feel believable and genuinely alive. And I had so much fun bringing the other characters to life too, like Sipho and Liv, who each add their own colour to the world of the story.

What made researching for this book great, did you get to do any interesting interviews or visit any unusual places?

This is one of my favourite questions because the research was genuinely so much fun. I spent a lot of time in Simon’s Town and the surrounding area, snorkelling around Windmill Beach and Boulders, just soaking up the atmosphere and the wildlife. I also watched countless nature documentaries, my favourites being the ones narrated by David Attenborough, of course. I watch these for pure enjoyment anyway, so getting to call it research was a very welcome bonus.

The standout experience was going out on a kayak with my brother to Roman Rock Lighthouse and around Ark Rock, both of which feature in the book. Getting to see those landmarks from the water, the way Ben would have seen them, gave the story a completely different depth that I could not have found sitting at my desk.

Do you have something to tell our followers who think that they might have a book inside of them, a word of encouragement or some advice? And where can our readers find you…on instagram? Website?

Write the story that is closest to your heart, because that is usually the one that needs to exist. For me, The Boy and the Whale Shark is the book I wish I could have read when I was nine and going through some of the hardest parts of my skin journey in hospital.

My other piece of advice is simple: read as many children’s books as you possibly can. It never stops teaching you something new.

You can find me on Instagram at @caylalewis where I share some of the journey of being a children’s book author and illustrator, as well as updates on what is coming next! My website is caylalewis.com The Boy and the Whale Shark is also available in Afrikaans, and is in bookstores nationwide and online through LAPA Publishers, part of Penguin Random House South Africa.