Meet the makers
G'day, we're Candy and Nico
We're parents, graphic and product designers, artists, illustrators, authors, gardeners, picture book collectors and dreamers, originally from Hong Kong and New Zealand and now living on a thickly forested hill near Ballarat, Victoria.
We've been making things together since the year 2000, the distant future, when Nico first graffitied Candy's diary in high school art class. (He drew a candy cane.)
How did it start?
Roobee Roo was born in late 2018 as a reminder for us to slow down and enjoy the magic of childhood. What started as small notes about family memories from our first house, left around our temporary new one, turned into a creative challenge to celebrate those wonderful early years when everything was new and amazing to our daughter, and waiting to be explored.
Yep, our daughter was growing up, and we desperately wanted to find a way to cherish the millions of memories we'd made in the house she grew up in.
Why a kangaroo?
Our new house is held up by books. Seriously, unless you want a truckload of books and plants, there's really no reason to rob our house.
With so much inspiration lining the walls of every room, it's no wonder we decided to answer this challenge by publishing our own picture book series.
But every book series needs a star. Who should ours be?
We couldn't do a rabbit. Or a dog. Or even a cat in a hat.
Wait a minute. How about a kangaroo?
We love kangaroos. There are two families living on our land. Seriously, I can see them eating our flowers!
Gardening skills notwithstanding, kangaroos are progressive animals, always moving forward. (Can they even move backwards?)
And get this. They have their own pouches for storing things in. Things like handkerchiefs (probably) and super-cute joeys!
Well, a kangaroo joey seemed like a pretty good match for all the energy packed into our rapidly growing daughter. And Candy has always loved the challenge of creating a distinctive, instantly recognisable character from a familiar animal.
So, we named our new book star Roobee Roo, gave her a magical pouch that fills with new things every day, and we've been finding wonder in it ever since.
Kindness is built into every order.
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