Soniya Samnani

I'm Soniya Samnani — a graphic designer, a storyteller, and someone who believes the most important lessons in life are learned before the age of seven.

I was born in India and now call the United States home. But wherever I've lived, one thing has always stayed with me — the quiet world of children. The shy ones. The ones who hold back. The ones who desperately want to join in but don't know how. I was one of them. And I never forgot that feeling.

That's why I write.

I created my jungle characters — Ellie, Lola, Milo, Benny, Leo, and their friends — because I believe children don't just read about animals. They become them. In Ellie's shyness, they recognise their own. In Leo's fear, they see something familiar. And in the way a little lamb learns to share or a bunny learns to say sorry — they quietly learn to do the same.

My books are built on four things I believe deeply:

First — reading should be a habit, not a chore. The right story makes a child ask for just one more page, every single time.

Second — children learn best when they don't realise they're learning. Through characters they love, in worlds that feel magical, with lessons that take root quietly.

Third — nature is the greatest teacher. A jungle full of different animals, each with their own fears and strengths, mirrors the beautiful and diverse world our children are growing up in.

And fourth — the one closest to my heart — children are naturally free of prejudice. They don't see difference as division until someone teaches them to. My books gently do the opposite. They show children that elephants and lambs, lions and bunnies, monkeys and rabbits — all different, all unique, all worthy — look out for each other. Because that's what the world looks like at its very best.

I want every child who reads my books to grow up emotionally strong, deeply curious, and completely certain that they belong — exactly as they are.

One story at a time.

Soniya Samnani