• Home
  • Blog
  • LittAfrica
    • Speakers
    • Workshops and Plenaries
    • Français
  • Resources
    • Bookstore
    • Webinars
    • Videos
    • Training Calendar
  • Intl. Leadership
    • Board
    • MAI-Africa
    • MAI-Asia
    • MAI-Europe
    • HQ Staff
  • Contact Us

Media Associates International

  • About Us
  • Our Work
  • Get Involved
Donate
  • No products in cart.

Meet Coki the Carrier Pigeon and His Creator

Tuesday, 09 April 2013 / Published in MAI, writing, writing for children

Meet Coki the Carrier Pigeon and His Creator

Yunita Harahap is an author and former editor from Indonesia, now residing in Yunita cropped headshot2the US. She describes her journey as a children’s writer in this interview, condensed and shared with permission of fellow Indonesian author Fida Abbott.

Q: Why did you want to be a children’s book author?
I am a children’s book lover and cannot stop buying them for my collections. They always bring comfort and joy with their simple stories and good teachings. I want to make children happy with my stories by creating a character that can be a good friend to them through educational, simple and fun stories.

Coki booksQ: Tell us a little bit about your Coki children’s books.
Coki is a loving, kind young pigeon carrier who is curious about everything and dares to take risks for his friends’ sake. In Coki’s stories, we can see his many good traits. Coki makes mistakes but is willing to learn from his mistakes to become a better bird. We can see the nature of children in Coki’s heart.  He loves to play with his friends and is often tempted to delay his tasks.

Q: Where do you get inspiration to write children’s books?
Sometimes I got ideas by walking at a park or around my house. As I heard birds chirping in trees, my heart was tickled and I wanted to know what they were “talking” about? If I saw a bird fly quickly overhead, my heart wondered, “Why is this little buddy in a hurry? Is there an important message that it wants to pass to its friends?” My imagination and my observation blended together to develop the stories.

Q: What are important keys to make stories interesting for children?Coki image
I intentionally begin Coki’s stories with the setting at home near Coki’s family to stress the importance of family. Children love to be surrounded by their families, so that will attract young readers.  The other key is to add humor because children love to play and have fun. In each book, I add a simple game so the readers can have fun playing the game while enjoying the story. Another key is the stories’ cute illustrations. I am so blessed that I met Yoseph Jee, a talented, dedicated illustrator for children’s books.

Q: How do you participate in making your books available to children?
In Jakarta, I occasionally joined a ministry to an orphanage where we could tell stories to the kids and introduced Coki to those children. I also gave Coki books to the street kids I met every day on the bus. If my friends were going to remote areas of Indonesia, I entrusted Coki’s books to them so they could give them away to children or school libraries. In 2012, when Coki celebrated his 12-year anniversary, I invited Coki’s fans to donate books to libraries in remote areas of Indonesia or give them as gifts to children they knew.

Yunita’s books are available online from Bina Kasih publishing house (in Indonesian).

Tagged under: Asia, Bina Kasih, children's books, Coki, Indonesia, publishing, stories, tips, training, writing, Yunita Harahap

What you can read next

From Mama Mzigo to Mama Kanisa
Follow-Up: A Key to Effective Training
Influence a Younger Generation

1 Comment to “ Meet Coki the Carrier Pigeon and His Creator”

  1. NGWA MARGARET SIRI says :Reply
    May 8, 2013 at 12:42 am

    Hi Yunita,
    That is a geat thing you do to give books to street children. We suffer a lack of a reading culture in Cameroon because we as children never had the oppurtunity to see beautifully illustrated books as coki books.
    keep up the good work.
    Margaret S. Ngwa.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get notified of new blog posts by writers from around the world.


Recent Posts

  • LittAfrica 2019: “Changing the landscape of Christian publishing in Africa…”

    God heard our prayers and blessed the November ...
  • Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Writing the personal experience article in Cambodia

    By Larry Brook “Hi. I’m a chicken. I really wan...
  • Designed by God

    Interview with graphic designer Momir Blazek of...
  • Mexico: 23 year-old blogger offers hope to young women

    “You are not alone.” Clouds of self...
  • Is Self-Publishing Right for Your Book?

    By Ramon Rocha III As MAI’s director of p...

Archives

Categories

Bookstore Links

  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Bookstore
  • Checkout

More About MAI

  • Staff
  • History
  • Core Values
  • Statement of Faith
  • Board and Trustees
  • Privacy Policy

Upcoming Events

Dec 10 2019

How to Create and Publish Audiobooks

No event found!
See All Events

Get monthly updates on how we’re ending the famine of Christian literature around the world.

  • GET SOCIAL

© 2019. All rights reserved.

TOP
Get monthly updates on how we're ending the famine of Christian literature around the world.
We respect your privacy.

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

MAI
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.