Vanee Apoolingum

Vanee was born and raised on the paradise island of Mauritius. She grew up in beautiful, exotic surroundings, where she spent countless nights listening to enchanting stories about the dodo. As much as she loved listening about the native flightless bird, she loved writing about it even more. Derek the Flying Dodo was inspired by her love of adventures, where she always dreamed that the impossible could happen.

She has now swapped her sunny, exotic location for the slightly cooler English landscape, where she lives with her husband and two boys. When she’s not busy writing or baking with her boys, she’s out and about, still trying to catch a glimpse of Derek flying in the beautiful bright blue sky.