“A Little Horse Called Pancakes” is thrilled to be launching his latest book at the Noordhoek Garden Emporium today (Thurs).
In his latest offering, Pancakes explores themes of bravery and self-belief.
Written by renowned author Candice Noakes-Dobson, the series tell heart-warming tales of Pancakes’ life with his family and friends within the Cape Town horse-riding community.
For Noakes-Dobson, the ongoing series continues her quest to transform the lives of many South African children and persons with disabilities.
“My family has also been involved with the South African Riding For The Disabled association for many years and I really wanted to do a project that would help raise valuable funds for this organisation that transforms the lives of so many children,” says Noakes-Dobson.
“Each Pancakes story is loosely based on events that happen at Sweet Valley farm with the characters based on persons and animals who inhabit our farm or who have left a huge impression on our hearts.
“In ’A Little Horse Called Pancakes’ and ’The Big Fire’, Darryl the helicopter pilot who fought the awful fires on the Constantiaberg mountains was a dear friend who lost his life a couple of weeks later, fighting a fire in Bainskloof.
“I was desperate to keep his spirit alive for his wife and son who at the time was not even a year old. He will always remain our true hero.
“The latest tale, ’A little Horse Called Pancakes and the Big Game’, tells the story of bravery and self-belief.
“My husband coaches rugby and AnnaB rides competitively. Both sports require a huge amount of determination and overcoming obstacles which may be physical or mental. In this story, I wanted to tie the two worlds together.
“Scarra Ntubeni has a starring role with AnnaB and Pancakes. All three learn from each other. Scarra was very kind to allow us to let him star in the book. He is such a role model to AnnaB and so many children they narrative blended so organically. I really hope that many children enjoy this new instalment.”
Pancakes is a real-life miniature horse that has lived with Noakes-Dobson for more than 15 years.
“He is so adored, comes and visits inside the house and has a girlfriend called Candy Floss a very old Welsh pony.
“They do everything together. He is such a character, he creates stories daily which I need to jot down to try and weave into the next tale.
“I was also extremely fortunate to have a great friend in Wendy Patterson a fellow teacher who is the most talented illustrator who agreed to collaborate on the books.
“Her illustrations bring Pancakes and his friends to life. I truly believe without her contribution these books would not receive the love they do.
“Along with Wendy on board, a friend from school Catriona Ross, an unbelievably talented author very kindly agreed to edit the stories.
“Finally rounding off the team is Maryse Collins who puts the text and illustrations together so that we can monitor what the final product will look like and what we need to work on. These tales are really a team effort.”
Following the official launch, Noakes-Dobson says she will be visiting schools across the country and sharing the joy of adventure, writing and reading.
Don’t miss the launch of “A little Horse Called Pancakes and the Big Game” at Our Cafe at the Noordhoek Garden Emporium on Thursday, January 27, at 3pm
The Pancakes series is available at all major book stores nationwide.