New start-up Kiwi, bringing new experiences to children’s books

A new start-up by the name of Kiwi has been launched aimed at publishing books children love. The fresh and dynamic duo behind the brand, Luisa Abela and Andrea Camilleri, are two creatives who came together bringing their skills of writing and design together and to bring a new take on books.

Launching at the National Book Fair next week, the young start-up will be launching with a bang; 6 books to hit the shelves. Catering for a variety of ages, the books are all illustrated and original with a focus on the story and accompanying designs.

Kiwi will be launching the first two books in a series called “Small Island, Big Ambitions” which is focused on telling the story of famous Maltese people who succeeded in a variety of professions and industries. Speaking to Luisa on this series she said that “With Small Island, Big Ambitions, we wanted to recount in an illustrated and easy way the story of successful Maltese people coming from various walks of life and in various professions to kids. The idea is to encourage children to dream big and to achieve their dreams because many others worked hard on their dreams and achieved them. We truly believe in the potential of each and every kid, and we see our books as supporting children on their life path.”

The first two books in this series focus on well-loved singer Ira Losco and Malta’s international footballer Andre Schembri. The stories focus on the childhood of the individuals and on their dreams that turned into reality and are accompanied by colourful illustrations. Luisa said that we started with two young household names, and which are highly regarded by children as role models. Kiwi will be publishing biographies of several Maltese personalities across times that have distinguished themselves across a number of fields.

Kiwi will also be publishing Luisa’s trilogy “I wish I was”, an Amazon sensation series which occupied the best-seller category for a number of weeks. The three books in the series are called “I wish I was a monster,” “I wish I was an Alien” and “I wish I was a Mermaid.” The books have earned raving reviews on Amazon from readers all over the world are now available for the first time in Malta.

The final book Kiwi will be launching during the Book Fair is a Christmas story centred around the adventures of Pip as he takes readers on a journey as Santa prepares for Christmas in Malta. “Christmas is a season which kids love, and which is heavily celebrated in Malta and for this reason we wanted to create a story set specifically in Malta for this Christmas with Pip taking on centre stage,” said Andrea Camilleri a co-founder of Kiwi.

The young start-up is focusing on delivering more books over the coming months with a focus on quality, illustrations and delivering additional experiences. Both Luisa and Andrea believe in the power of books and how if rediscovered, the love of books is something that will accompany kids throughout their life.

Kiwi Publications will be launched during the upcoming National Book Fair and Ira Losco will be holding a book signing session on November 6 2020, between 1530 and 1700 at the MFCC in Ta’Qali. Due to COVID restrictions, people wishing to attend need to send an email with the names, ID cards, addresses and phone numbers of attendees to luisa@kiwipublications.com A free ticket will be sent to attendees.

• Biographies of Ira Losco and Andre Schembri to be launched

• Ira Losco to have a book signing session at the book fair

• 4 other books to be launched at the book fair