Nat Bannerman

5 Cockatoos, the counting rhyme for kids book, began with a real moment outside my window one morning in Australia, when five noisy cockatoos sat together in a tree before flying away one by one. Birds have always been a huge passion of mine, and that simple moment quickly turned into a playful story for children. As a neurodivergent creator, I love turning everyday experiences into stories filled with rhythm, curiosity, and imagination.

With the second book for the Magbean!® series now published and ready to be ordered, how about some fun facts about the beans of Beanpie Island! At the end of You Can’t Rush Friendships, the heads of two silhouettes are seen in the foreground. Guess who they were? Magtaco and Nachobean; the bullies of Beanpie Island, now clear for everyone to see in Kindness Over Rudeness. Now, how about we start with them? Magtaco and Nachobean, brothers of a feather, as clearly stated in the first page....

Things have been pretty wild while creating the books. Progress was slow during school and then suddenly fast the moment I finished my last day. It feels like the book came together quickly, but in reality, it took almost five months to complete. Balancing a growing business with school has been tough. The constant workload pushed my stress levels high, which slowed everything down for both Zosimos Curra® and my studies. I was zoning out, juggling assessments, forgetting tasks and even...