Chris Devonshire-Ellis works in foreign investment. However, he has also been a writer for many years. Chris used to write for music magazines and interview jazz and soul musicians including well-known artistes such as Luther Vandross and George Clinton.
He has also written several business books and expat stories about living in China along with a travel guide to Mongolia. However, “The Optimistic Kingfisher” is his first collection of children’s stories published by The Jam Fruit Tree Publications.
“This book came about when I had some Russian young children staying with me in Sri Lanka a few years ago and I entertained them by writing stories. They loved these stories so much and used to have those read to them before they went to sleep. With the pandemic, it wasn’t until recently when I decided to revisit those stories, get in touch with some artist friends of mine, have them illustrated and then published,” said Chris. “The Jam Fruit Tree Publications did a fantastic job of making these stories really come to life in print form.”
Animals and birds
The stories in his book are about animals and birds of Sri Lanka, different fish, whales and turtles. And with the illustrations, it’s almost like a children’s guide to the natural world of the island. Chris noted how children also have their fears and are scared of creepy crawlers. Therefore in his book, there are stories about different types of insects explaining if they’re good or bad and what to do when you encounter them.
It’s about not being afraid to go outside and experiencing the great beauty of the outdoor life Sri Lanka has to offer. It’s educational but also fun.
The Optimistic Kingfisher is written from the perspective of an adult and for the mother or father reading these stories at bedtime. Since it’s written for adults to read to their children, Chris mentioned how he also put in some jokes which may fly over the heads of young children but adults would find quite entertaining.
It also follows the environment that Rudyard Kipling managed to portray in his books such as “The Jungle Book”. “There are three kinds of love in the book. One is the love of Sri Lanka and explaining what it is all about.
One is the love of children and introducing them to Sri Lanka, especially the foreign children here. And the other is my love for my dogs: Clemmie and Winnie whose adventures are also featured in the book,” said Chris fondly. “Therefore, it’s a love story to my dogs, to Sri Lanka and to young children everywhere. Hopefully people would agree with those sentiments.”
The stories are based on Sri Lanka since Chris moved here around thirteen, fourteen years ago.
He purchased a bungalow in Unawatuna, travelled around, became familiar with the country, swam in the sea and visited all sorts of places. “I’m fortunate to have a big garden there which was redesigned by Geoffrey Bawa’s ex gardener with a beautiful pond. So a lot of the stories about the flowers and the birds are based upon what myself and the children saw in that garden. Therefore, these are written from a home perspective,” said Chris.
Title story
The title story of this book, The Optimistic Kingfisher was a kingfisher who used to sit on a jasmine branch overlooking the author’s fishing swimming pool at nine o’clock in the morning. Obviously there was no fish in my swimming pool, so Chris saw it as an optimistic kingfisher. Another example is the story of Clemmie’s pond, which was completely covered in water lilies into which one of his dogs fell into, assuming that she was stepping onto grass as it looked green and solid. The author recalled these moments to be fond and funny memories. Such authentic and amusing incidents that happened was his muse as he expanded and developed those themes within each particular story.
Another important aspect of this book is that it’s heavily illustrated with a lot of paintings and drawings of animals and nature. “Sri Lanka is a very literate country and always has been. Therefore, if anyone reading this has a book inside of them that they need to get out, do sit down and write. Get your muse in place, let the stories come out, make it into publication format and get it out there,” encouraged the author.
Chris explained that there is a vital, underlying message in the book and that is for children not to be afraid of nature since it can be rather frightening. Sri Lanka is an island and there’s a big ocean out there.
The author explained how it’s almost like a natural history guide at a very junior level as the purpose is to educate children to start taking notice of birds, flowers and animals and ask themselves questions about them. “Maybe one day, they will grow up to be adventurous themselves and continue that tradition of encouraging children to enjoy nature, admire animals and be outdoors more often,” said the author.
