After a career in the corporate world, Charlotte K. Omillin decided to dedicate her time to writing and illustrating stories for children. She’s the author of The Adventures of Zeppi series. A lover of nature and the environment, Omillin interweaves the ecological theme in her series. In it, Zeppi the penguin and his friends learn how to take care of our planet.
Over the years, Omillin has attended several Academies of Arts in Belgium for drawing, painting, and film animation courses. In addition, she’s been a member of several critique groups. She also writes for young adults. You may contact the author at omillinplanet@gmail.com. Download free coloring pages of Zeppi at theadventuresofzeppi.wordpress.com.
Thanks for this interview, Charlotte! It’s a pleasure to have you here to talk about your new series for kids. What was your inspiration for Zeppi? How would you describe him?
I once knew a little boy who was crazy about penguins and I made up stories for him. After each tale he asked me, “What happens next?” That’s when I started structuring my ideas and writing down the tales.
Who is Zeppi? He’s a young Adelie penguin born in a zoo. That’s the only environment he knows, surrounded by his parents and his penguin buddies. Zeppi is good-hearted and friendly but also curious, impulsive, and a little opinionated. As he tends to know everything, he gets easily entangled in complicated situations and then learns at his own expense. Young Zeppi is impatient to live and speak like humans. His ecological-minded friend, Alesdor, shows him how easy it is to respect planet Earth.
Zeppi also loves to sing and to eat desserts (anything with chocolate will do!).
Zeppi sounds adorable and I love the ‘green’ angle in your series. I understand the first two books in The Adventures of Zeppi have been published. Tell us a little about the stories and what ties them together.
Zeppi is rescued by a boy, Alesdor, who believes a miracle happened the day he found a penguin in his backyard. So he decides to keep his new friend and hides him in his tepee.
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