The Adventures of Lups and Spotty

“The Adventures of Lups and Spotty” was written by Gitta Zimmermann and Vivek Kumar Singh Bodhisatva. 38 pages, designed to be enjoyed and shared with anyone aged between 6 and 110, whether you’re reading it aloud to a child or looking at it together with them.

The stories recount the everyday adventures of Lups the wolf and Spotty the giraffe in the jungle. Lups represents the judgemental language we’re all familiar with, whilst Spotty embodies a non-violent, empathetic approach. Through their adventures, the two become good friends, and following each story, brief explanations help readers to understand their conversations through the lens of Non-Violent Communication (NVC). The four steps – observation, feelings, needs and requests – are also explained within the story.

Marshall Rosenberg once asked: ‘Imagine your child is Gandhi. How would you approach them?’ This is precisely the attitude that the book embodies. Gitta Zimmermann is a certified trainer in Non-Violent Communication and organises international workshops for people who work with children. The idea for the story came from Vivek Kumar Singh Bodhisatva, an Indian participant in one of her workshops.

The artist Christiane Lesch has painted expressive watercolours to accompany the stories; she has illustrated numerous children’s books. It is important to both her and Gitta Zimmermann to show children hand-painted characters.

Published by Schneider Editionen. Paperback, 38 pages.