Drumbalo and the Seeds of Hope

An exciting adventure awaits six-year-old Asteria, as she meets her star friend Drumbalo in a quaint farm in the South of Spain. Drumbalo comes to her aid to lift the heavy feeling that the COVID-19 lockdowns had on children, adults, and elderly folk in 2019. Each of the seven chapters touches an emotional chord with pandemic related issues such as, the dare situation that many businesses and farms suddenly found themselves in, the old people’s homes during lockdown, the wet markets’ cruel reality, and the way we can better look after our planet Earth. This funny, sad, but hopeful story strives to make this a family book to help parents discover how living with the COVID-19 pandemic influenced their children, thereby enabling to discuss and share their feelings.

Born in La Mancha, where Cervantes decided to have D. Quijote born, I have always been much more interested in the exciting possibility of the familiar windmills being enchanted giants than the industrious mechanics that made them work. As a school teacher for over 30 years, I have discovered that children take learning much more passionately when there is an element of surprise or creativity in the subject we are addressing, so I have always tried to enhance their imagination with stories and interactive plays.