'Samsara Dog' and 'Lucky Baby Yak'

The author Helen Manos told ATC:

"I first encountered Tibetan culture through meditation at a small Buddhist centre in Adelaide. A dedicated group of people was fundraising for Tibetan children’s education in India so I became involved.

Later, I decided to travel to Dharamsala in north India. Meeting HHDL, I cried! He was so humble and warm. For six weeks, I taught English to Tibetan nuns. Their stories were similar: tortuous escape over the mountains and fear of being killed by Chinese soldiers.

At the Dharamsala Refugee Centre, I witnessed first-hand the trauma of new Tibetan arrivals. The frostbite, the weight loss while escaping, the pain of leaving their families in Tibet was obvious. I cried so many tears for them.

My own family had been refugees after WW2 and they had left everything and everyone in Europe. Now I was seeing it all again.

Returning home to Adelaide, I wrote Lucky Baby Yak. Then I wrote Samsara Dog, another book about Buddhist beliefs of reincarnation, samsara and nirvana, I was thrilled that Julie Vivas (Possum Magic illustrator) agreed to illustrate the book."

The books are both new.