Veld Friends Book 1

Friendship is everything, even if you’re a bit of a wild one like Walter the Warthog. Join him as he meets new buddies, overcomes challenges, surfs his heart out and has a lekker braai or two. Veld Friends is a series for kids of all ages set around the Waterhole and starring a loveable cast of uniquely South African animals, including Sindele the Stork, Mandla the Hippo and Beukus the Baboon. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll want to hold your nose for a while when Walter farts. Is there anything more fun than reading a Veld Friends story with a kid? Probably not.

After growing up in sunny Durban, Andrew Dawson has spent much of his life living in rainy northern places, which might explain why he tries to find humour where he can. His fiction has been recognised at the Northern Writers’ Awards in the UK and he has won the Best Screenplay award at the Sydney Indie Film Festival. The Veld Friends series is his first trip into children’s book territory and he’s loving the journey so far. Haden Clendinning grew up in Durban where as a kid he enjoyed drawing the local birdlife such as Hoopoes and Kingfishers. Now that he is a grownup, he still enjoys drawing Hoopoes and Kingfishers. His first book Hungry Birds of Africa, which he wrote and illustrated, was published in 2018.