Overseas-based Guyanese author and Journalist Whitney Persaud has published her second book titled ‘Curious Kyrie and the Mouse in the House,’ a children’s fiction, which she says is another one of her contributions to Guyana’s literary arts. Persaud said the intention is to promote reading at an early age, in a fun and imaginative way.
Curious Kyrie and the Mouse in the House features the Author’s nephews, Kyrie and Kaiden, and her niece Kaylee- Rose, who reside in Guyana. The story shares the events of Kyrie’s interaction with a mouse at his brother’s fourth birthday party and details a solution that results in acts of kindness between the two main characters.
According to Persaud, the book encourages social inclusion for the children in Guyana and the Caribbean, as well as planting seeds of good practices like sharing, forgiving, and being kind to each other from an early age.
She said, “Often our children read books penned by authors outside of Guyana and the Caribbean region, and that is okay, but I wanted to give each child a feeling of identity through characters.”
The Author spoke of her childhood and pointed out that growing up, a lot of the cartoon characters she knew and the books she read were created and penned by people from other countries. There was always that feeling of, “I can only do this or get this if I grew up in America”, so the idea is to let them know they can too, even if they are from Guyana or the Caribbean.
“When they read the book and find out that someone from Guyana wrote it, they will know that they can achieve anything, regardless of where they grow up.” Persaud said her goal is to promote Guyanese talent and remind even the adults that they can do the things they love and have a passion for. She said, “Everything will have its challenges, but perseverance is key to success.
Curious Kyrie and the mouse in the house will be available for sale locally and on Amazon in both paperback and eBook versions. Persaud said she also plans to donate copies of her book to Guyana’s National Library. She encouraged parents to get their children signed up for library cards, noting that it will be one of the best decisions they can make for them from early on. For updates on her upcoming books, people can visit the Author’s Instagram page @Whitneywrites__
In 2019, Persaud published her first book of prose, titled ‘Words of the Soul- relatable thoughts’ on Amazon in paperback and eBook versions. Her book seeks to inspire persons battling with life’s woes and struggling to express their feelings. In her book, Persaud reflects on the harsh reality of depression, anxiety, and suppressed emotions and wants people to know they are not alone in the fight to overcome.