Adventures on Sal Island
Adventures on Sal Island is a series of three children’s books set on Sal, Cape Verde.
I started writing the stories while living and working in a small tattoo studio in Santa Maria, on Sal. Each book features 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. Unfortunately, I had to go back to Europe before finishing them. But I completed and published the books later, as a gift for the friends I left on the island.
Adventures on Sal Island
Lua and the Shark Who Talked in Bubbles
It’s a story about caring for the environment and the power of community. Eight-year-old Lua discovers plastic trash on her Cape Verde beach and meets Tico, a baby lemon shark who communicates through shimmering bubbles. His underwater sanctuary is in danger — plastic debris and abandoned fishing nets are turning Shark Bay into a trap for young sharks. With her grandmother’s guidance and her best friend Zé’s support, Lua composes a song about Tico. Performing it at the festival means facing a stage, a crowd, and her own fear. But she is a brave girl, and her song, performed, unites the whole island — fishermen, shopkeepers, hotel workers, children — in a mission to restore the bay.
Children’s book: 6–10 years old | 94 pages | ISBN-13: 978-8397580176
Patrick's Ocean Adventure
Patrick’s adventure is 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. It follows Patrick, a baby loggerhead turtle born on Santa Maria Beach. He scrambles toward the moonlit sea with other small turtles and begins a long Atlantic journey fuelled by instinct, courage, and friendships. He finds shelter in floating seaweed, meets Beto the flying fish, and learns a hard lesson about ocean plastic when, instead of a jellyfish, he takes a bite of a shopping bag. Years later, grown and strong, he feels a pull back home — he discusses it with other turtles and decides to follow his inner compass. It brings him back to Cape Verde, to the island that has changed. But changed for the better. People of Sal are working to protect the beaches now, and they take care of the young turtles who come out to follow Patrick’s journey.
Children’s book: 6–10 years old | 94 pages | ISBN-13: 978-8397580183
Martina & the Cats of Santa Maria
A story about enjoying small things, sharing, companionship, and the art of slow living, told through the unhurried wisdom of cats who know the island’s rhythms better than anyone else. Little Fofinho wakes up alone on a strange island where everyone loves music, and the sun never seems to set. Martina — a tortoiseshell cat with a heart-shaped patch and the loudest purr in the whole Cape Verde — takes him through the streets and the beach. She knows where every water bowl hides, which fishermen share the best fish, and that the secret to happiness is simple: live slowly, share everything, and always make time for a good nap. Along the way, Fofinho discovers that cats hold monthly meetings under the full moon, that dogs share their palm trees’ shade, and that the whole town can stop to dance when someone plays guitar. The books ask: What if, when you stop looking for home, you find it exactly where you are?
Children’s book: 6–10 years old | 100 pages | ISBN-13: 978-8397946309
Publishing
All three books are self-published on Amazon KDP and available in paperback and hardcover (with the creative workbook part), and in Kindle ebook format (simplified).