OUR MISSION
Our mission is to help parents raise confident, honorable, and resilient children who can succeed even amidst the storms of life and shifting values.
We will do this by creating outstanding books that parents love reading aloud to their children and that their children adore. In each book, Captain Pabbu will take you and your children on an adventure to different parts of the world to discover and interact with animals native to each region. These immersive adventures will highlight a virtue (such as bravery, helping others, honesty, etc.) that will lead to a thoughtful discussion to help your children understand and live that virtue.
As an attorney and judge, Joseph learned firsthand the challenges and tragedy that come when a child grows up without sufficient reading skills. It is no surprise that about 70% of U.S. federal inmates have a reading ability of a 4th grade child.
We care deeply about helping parents instill in their children a love for reading and for books. Studies show that reading aloud to children is significant to a child's eventual success in reading.
OUR STORY
This journey began many years ago when Joseph was reading a bedtime story to his young children. He turned to a page with an illustration of an attic filled with objects, including an old-fashioned sailing ship. An idea came to him to have a captain come onto the deck of the ship and invite him and his children on an adventure.
Joseph told a spell-binding story of this captain taking them on an adventure to a castle in Germany. His children loved it and asked him to tell another story the next evening. Night after night, he and his children "climbed up to the attic" for another adventure.
After telling over 50 stories, Joseph wondered how he could share these immersive and delightful experiences with other families. Captain Pabbu and the Buried Treasure is the first in a planned series of swashbuckling tales with Captain Pabbu, a dashing red panda who is our jovial and adventurous leader. He is accompanied by Manny, an emperor tamarin, the fearless first mate, and Scout, a magnificent scarlet macaw, the lookout. They enthusiastically invite you and your children to climb aboard, enjoy a fantastic bonding experience, and learn a timeless virtue!
ABOUT JOSEPH
Joseph's dynamic and wise mother read aloud to him and his siblings when they were young. This created a deeply-rooted love for books and reading in Joseph's heart. He always dreamed of publishing books, owning his own bookstore, and having a vast library in his home. At university, he decided to pursue a law degree. He graduated from BYU Law School and became an attorney. He also served as a judge. Though legal work took most of his time, he never lost his love for writing books, telling stories to his children, and visiting zoos and adventure parks with them. Captain Pabbu and the Buried Treasure is the first of many books he plans to publish. He looks forward to sharing them with the world and reading them to his grandchildren.
ABOUT SLAVINA
Slavina Kancheva is an artist and illustrator from Bulgaria. She is the youngest child and growing up she spent most of her time playing outside with insects, fish, and lizards. She was fascinated by them and strived to capture their images in drawings. This interest led her to study Fine Arts at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she received her bachelor degrees in printmaking. After winning a couple of awards in printmaking, she realized she liked creative illustration, so she attended a course at the Institute of European Design, in Barcelona, Spain. While there, she was captivated by the art of storytelling in images and focused her talents as an illustrator of children's books and an artist for video games. She has loved bringing Captain Pabbu and the other characters to life in this magnificent adventure.
