Adventures on Sal Island
Writing | Illustration | Design | Editing | Self-publishing
Adventures on Sal Island is a series of three children’s books set on Sal, Cape Verde. Written, illustrated, designed, edited, and self-published — every part of these books has my effort in it. I started writing the stories while living and working in a small tattoo studio in Santa Maria, on Sal. Each book features some important wisdom or life lessons connected to one or a few of my Cape Verdean friends — Patrick, Martina and Helena — and even though the stories are fictional, these people and their values were my main inspiration in creating them.
I had to go back to Europe, where I managed to finish and publish the books, hoping to make a lovely surprise for the friends I left on the island. Each book includes a creative workbook with tasks, puzzles, crosswords, and colouring pages.
The Adventures on Sal Island series
Lua and the Shark Who Talked in Bubbles: Children’s Adventure on Sal Island, Cape Verde
A story about caring for the environment and the power of community, about what can happen when an island’s inhabitants come together to protect the place they share.
When eight-year-old Lua discovers plastic trash littering her pristine Cape Verde beach, her heart aches for her beautiful island home. Everything changes when she meets Tico, a baby lemon shark who speaks through magical, shimmering bubbles! Tico’s underwater sanctuary is in grave danger. Plastic debris and abandoned fishing nets are turning Shark Bay into a deadly maze for young sharks, and Tico desperately needs human allies to save his family. With her wise grandmother’s musical guidance and her best friend Zé’s unwavering support, Lua composes a powerful song about Tico that ignites her entire island community. Soon, everyone — fishermen, shopkeepers, hotel workers, and children — unite in an extraordinary mission to restore their beaches and safeguard the magnificent sea creatures who call these waters home. But when the mayor invites Lua to headline the festival’s opening ceremony, paralysing stage fright threatens to silence her message. Will she summon the courage to share Tico’s story with hundreds of festival-goers? Can their grassroots movement truly transform Shark Bay into a haven once again?
Children’s book: 6-10 years old | 94 pages | ISBN-13 : 978-8397580176
Patrick's Ocean Adventure: Loggerhead Sea Turtle's Journey From and Back to Sal, Cape Verde
It’s a story about growing up, facing the unknown, and learning to trust yourself: the courage it takes to leave home and the deeper pull that eventually brings you back.
Born on Santa Maria Beach on Sal, Cape Verde, Patrick is a baby loggerhead turtle who scrambles towards the moonlit sea and begins a drifting Atlantic journey fuelled by instinct, courage, and friendships. Along the way, he finds shelter in a floating seaweed hotel, meets Beto the flying fish — his first real friend in the open ocean — and learns a life-saving lesson about ocean plastic when something that looks like a jellyfish turns out to be a bag. The ocean is vast and full of surprises, some wonderful and some dangerous, and Patrick has to learn to tell the difference. Years later, grown and strong, he feels a pull he cannot explain — something deeper than memory, something written into his body. Guided by it, Patrick returns to the waters of Cape Verde and discovers how the people of Sal are working to protect nesting beaches and the young turtles who will one day make the same journey he did.
Children’s book: 6-10 years old | 94 pages | ISBN-13 : 978-8397580183
Martina & the Cats of Santa Maria: A Cat’s Guide to Slow Life on Sal Island, Cape Verde
It’s a story about enjoying small things, sharing, companionship, and the art of slow living, told through the unhurried wisdom of the cats who know the island’s rhythms better than anyone.
Fofinho doesn’t know where he is. One minute, he was sleeping on a fishing boat, the next, he was alone on a strange island where everyone spoke in music, and the sun never seemed to set. Enter Martina — a tortoiseshell cat with a heart-shaped patch and the loudest purr in Cape Verde. She knows where every water bowl hides. She knows which fishermen share the best fish. She knows that the secret to happiness is simple: live slowly, share everything, and always make time for a good nap. As Fofinho follows Martina through the colourful streets of Santa Maria, he discovers that this isn’t just any island. It’s a place where cats have monthly meetings under the full moon, where dogs share their palm trees, and where the whole town stops to dance when someone plays guitar. But the most surprising discovery? When you stop looking for home, that’s precisely when you find it.
Children’s book: 6-10 years old | 100 pages | ISBN-13 : 978-8397946309
Publishing
I self-published these books through Amazon KDP. All are available in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle ebook versions. The entire project — writing, drawing, editing, layout, and publication — was a solo effort from start to finish.
The series is available on Amazon >>