Maretha at Fauna Park Tales

Becoming a Grandmother for the First Time!

A few of my fellow Rave Reviews Book Club members who have read Fauna Park Tales’ stories might have noticed that the series is written for two of my favourite children. As it happens (of course) my grandchildren. Here my granddaughter is almost one year old, and already able to give me a serious stare.

My granddaughter is thirteen years old today, and I can hardly believe how fast she has grown or really, how fast time has flown by. We were living in Durban, Kwa-Zulu, Natal, South Africa, at the time, and we did a lot of travelling – about five hundred miles between Durban and Johannesburg – most school holidays and a few weekends a month to see more of this special little girl.

Not long after she turned one year old, her parents moved to Botswana, and then it became a real challenge to see her often enough. So, in the end, we uprooted and made a new start in a foreign country – roughly for about six years. The two of us became inseparable. Since she was a toddler, she sat quietly in my after-school English classes and started to speak well from an early age, learning to read even before she attended Grade 0.

She has also inherited my bookworm tendencies – something which has been a good thing at school where she has excelled in all her subjects.

Bookworm doing what she likes best – reading!

In the end, we had to make a decision to emigrate to the United Kingdom, as work was getting more and more localised, so we came here in November 2013, and this time, my daughter moved too. By now, we had a little grandson as well! I was happy that they decided to come with us, because not long after we arrived here, my daughter became a single mom, and quickly had to find gainful employment. I’m not sorry that we made such a big move when most folks are thinking of retiring because I’m happy to have been around for most of the time to see my grandchildren grow up and to be a support for them too. Here are a few pictures of us  – me, my husband, my eldest daughter and grandchildren, my younger daughter and my son-in-law –  spending time together; far from South Africa yet still together.

This certainly has been a momentous week in the Botha Family because my eldest daughter worked and studied for the past few years, and she graduated this week. So, we have a lot to be thankful for!

Thank you so much for popping in at my blog today. I appreciate your support very much. Please feel free to comment and/or follow us here and at https://marethmbotha.wordpress.com if you wish. 

Amazon.com: Friends: An African Adventure Fauna Park Tales eBook: Botha, Maretha: Kindle Store

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Published by Maretha at Fauna Park Tales

Maretha is a South African Italian, born in a small town called Montagu. She grew up in nearby Worcester in the Western Cape – a town reminiscent of living in Switzerland among the snow-capped mountains. Worcester had a small library. Young Maretha’s visits were limited to three times a week, because the librarian told her, “You spend too much time with your nose in a book and neglect your school work.” Nothing much has changed, because she's still a confirmed bookworm who constantly strives to raise more bookworms who enjoy reading, not just as a pleasant past-time, but as an excellent tool to be used when grown-up. Before immigrating to the UK to settle in Lancashire, Maretha worked as a librarian in a private school in Botswana, where one of her tasks was to encourage children to enjoy reading. That was a labour of love for this bookworm, providing valuable help in carving her own career as a children's author/illustrator. It brought her face to face with the literary industry’s toughest critics – children and preteens. She saw that many students also enjoyed reading about birds and animals, their care, habitats and general well-being, especially when a few added catchy rhymes here and there made reading sessions interesting and alive. In 2012 her job was localised and as things often happen, this unforeseen occurrence led to a new chapter in her life. To remain motivated, she wrote down everything she could remember about her family's pets – their little habits and characteristics. For example, the character of the working-dog hero in Fauna Park Tales is based on the different traits of every single dog her family ever owned. Researching habits, habitats and interesting titbits about martial eagles and eagle owls, as well as many smaller birds such as crimson-breasted shrikes and hoopoes,made it easier to illustrate them and tell a believable story. Her illustrations appear throughout Fauna Park Tales. Maretha Botha admits to being a chocoholic and unreformed coffee addict, a keen gardener and bird watcher, who likes to walk on the moors where the stiff breeze coming in from the sea, quickly clears her head, making way for more inspiration.

10 comments

    • Dear Linda, I’m so happy to hear that you’re going to be a grandma soon. Your life will change dramatically, that I can tell you for sure. 🙂 I feel very blessed to have had both my grandchildren in my life for most of the time. I am close to both my daughters, but a grandchild gives a completely new dimension to your life. I felt that they gave me a new lease or outlook, I suppose, on life because suddenly I had to go and fetch kids, help a bit with their homework and projects – stuff like that. The real bonus is when they also show an interest in your writing – your best and your worst critics! All the best to your youngest daughter and your family. Maretha

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    • What a lovely surprise, Roberta. Yes, moving is not that pleasant, especially when moving continents. I sometimes wonder whether it would have been even more difficult if we moved directly from South Africa, but we lived in Botswana for a few years before deciding to take the plunge, leaving Africa. Kind regards and all the best with your future decisions. From which part of South Africa are you? I should probably not ask this question here, but if you wish, we could DM on twitter https://twitter.com/MarethMBotha 🙂

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