Carmen Saptouw has several books for young and up to middle grade children on the FKB website, you can see her books here:
https://freekidsbooks.org/author/carmen-saptouw/
Carmen tells us a little about why she writes:
As a young child of only 8 years old, I was inspired to write children’s stories. Following my childhood years, I got so involved with being a teenager that I completely forgot about my passion for writing.
Only in 2011, the year I turned 29, was my passion reawakened from its deep slumber when my dad found the stories I had written as a child. So more than 20 year later I rewrote the stories with the aim to preserve it, but as I typed, the stories evolved and new ideas were sparked.
I am married and a mother of a beautiful baby girl. I completed my tertiary education in Human Resources Management and worked in the industry for 9 years. After the birth of my baby in 2014, I decided to stay at home with her because this not only allowed me to share precious moments with her, but also gave me the opportunity to focus on my writing.
I aspire to share my stories with children around the world, and for each story to have a sound moral lesson.
About my books
The first story I rewrote was The Forest Fairy. Originally it was in Afrikaans, my mother tongue, but I found that I wrote better in English now, so Sannie became Lilly and a story of hope was born.
After I read another of my childhood creations, about a talking frog, the story changed into a better tale and Dan and the Frog was created, a story of a boy and a frog that take a journey to save a kingdom of frogs.
Then ideas for new stories started. I saw a grasshopper on a leaf with a stick as an oar, which led to The Rescue my third story, one of courage, persistence and the value of team work.
One day I sat in a meeting bored out of my mind. I looked around and saw a painting of a little bushman drawing that looked like he was climbing out of his rock. That was the start of San the Bushman Drawing a story of facing fears and embracing opportunities.
The Gemmed Cloak was also one of my tales as a child. Originally it was about a nightingale, but now after it has been revamped it tells the tale of a witch seeking revenge, a stable boy and a King filled with greed.
The three stories turned into a book A Trio of Adventurous Tales, which was self- published in February 2015 by Partridge Publishing.
The last book I wrote started with a day dream, while on training, of an island of clouds, home to a village of elves, where a tree controlled time. It turned into a tale filled with magic and adventure as Tobi, an elf; try to save Time from the clutches of the Dark Wizard, Evilius.
Tobi and The Tree of Time was published in June 2015 also by Partridge Publishing.
For more information about Carmen Saptouw check out www.talesbycarmensaptouw.wordpress.com
