History

When Jai and his mother moved from Bournemouth to start a new life on the Isle of Wight, it meant splitting up a great friendship between grandfather and grandson.  Although Dennis visited often, that strip of water―The Solent―really did get in the way. So he decided to write every week, telling Jai a story by instalments. Although he was quite young, his amazing 152 IQ meant that he and his mum were both able to enjoy the quite sophisticated stories together.

 

The first―The Dreaded Hippotigerdile―was such a success that Dennis took the characters on yet another adventure in The Great Animal Ramble and then, once more, in Fifi Returns to France.

 

The family decided to make them available to the public and they were published. The original hippotigerdile and the three book covers were designed by Jai’s sister, Lara, and they were so well received that newspaper and TV interviews followed. 

 

The books have now been brought up-to-date, this time with Jai’s sister, Charlie, creating the covers.

 

Throughout all this, the aim has been to raise awareness of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), for which 1 in 40 of us is a carrier, and to raise funds for the charity―Spinal Muscular Atrophy UK―which exists to help those born with the disability and their families.